Code Geass: The Demon of Britannia
by NG137
Summary: Born with immense intellect no child has as an infant, and immediately calming down in his mother's arms, Lelouch vi Britannia would come to be known as the most capable and dangerous of all the imperial children. Watch as he earns the title "Demon of Britannia" in his quest to gain power and protect his loved ones. AU, stronger/smarter Lelouch, Lelouch stays in Britannia story.
1. 1 - Birth of the Demon

**A/N:**** Hello everyone, its been awhile. Sorry about the lack of updates on my other story, "The House of Elros," but I was stuck between college and my job during the school year and the breaks. Also, I had this other idea on Code Geass after the series about what would happen if Lelouch was smarter and actually physically capable in the story. So, I'll try to update this story as well as the other one while I can, hope I do well, and hope you all like it. One more thing, like my first story, this one will have ideas from multiple other fictional sources and will have Lelouch being better but not godlike.**

**Chapter I – Birth of the Demon of Britannia**

**December 5****th****, 1999 a.t.b.**

"AHHHH," cried Marianne vi Britannia, Imperial Empress and 5th consort of 98th Emperor Charles zi Britannia, as she was currently in the process of giving birth to her first child in the third floor of the Aries Villa. "I know it hurts, your highness," said the royal nurse as she tried to calm down the empress, "but bear with it just a little longer, I can see the head." And so, Marianne tried her best to bear with the pain wile she was in labor, pushing when the doctors told her to, until finally it ended after her fifth push when they heard a loud cry, "Waahh!" With that loud cry, the pain had ended, and Marianne knew that her first child, her first son, was born. After cutting off the umbilical cord and cleaning the baby off, Marianne demanded the doctors to hand over her son, to which they quickly obeyed. The baby, having not stopped crying since his birth, immediately stopped when he was held in his mother's arms, almost as if he sensed he was being held in his mother's arms.

After the baby stopped crying, Marianne looked over the small child she had just brought into the world. When she looked over him, she saw that he had a small clump of raven-back hair on the top of his head, much similar to his own, but had a rather frail and thin body, more so than other babies she had seen. 'Hmmm,' thought Marianne, 'I'll have to put some meat on those little bones of his.' However, what really caught her attention was his eyes, eyes that shared the same violet color of her beloved's, as they were wide open and staring right into hers with a look of intellect and recognition, as if he somehow knew that she was his mother despite his infant age. 'Just what kind of child have I just given birth to?' However, that train of thought of hers was cut off as she saw those violet eyes of his dart off to the right of her, right where her beloved husband ,98th Emperor Charles zi Britannia, was standing tall in stature and proud in appearance, with the Knight of One, Bismarck Waldstein, by his side.

He gave off an aura of unfeeling and uncaring, as if hoping to leave as soon as he could. Most members of the royal court were incompetent and foolish, so he had to return soon lest the said court find some way to ruin his empire through their scheming, whining, and treachery. He learned firsthand what catastrophe their treachery could bring in his childhood during the "Emblem of Blood," which saw the death of nearly all of his family besides him, his brother, and his first children. Thus, he knew that such matters were no joke and that he had to return soon before things become serious. The only reason he came to Aries Villa in the first place was because this was the birth of Marianne's first child. She was a special case, as she was the only wife of his whom he genuinely loved. It caused quite a shock for the members of the Imperial Court when he announced he was going to visit Marianne a she gave birth to her first child. The emperor had stopped visiting the births of his children after the birth of Guinevere de Britannia, and never visited the birth of anymore afterwards, instead choosing to continue on his duties as emperor. It therefore came as a great surprise to the court when they were informed of why he was leaving, the majority of the nobles and royal family members feeling flabbergasted as he took his leave, their minds full of hatred and jealousy for the commoner-born 5th Empress who earned the favoritism of their emperor/husband/father, with only Odysseus, Schneizel, Clovis, and Cornelia holding no ill-will towards her. But Charles thought nothing of them, for they were all either too weak or too cowardly to make a move against him, as he moved on, Bismarck behind him, to see Marianne as she gave birth to his eleventh son.

He would have gone to visit her in any case, as he not only loved Marianne but feared what would happen if he did not show up. She had already threatened and beaten a few nobles who hd insulted her honor and marched her way through the Imperial Court screaming her lungs out when she was only denied a private audience with him. As such, he feared what would happen to him during their next time in private together if he did not show up for the birth of her child. As such, he did the only logical thing his mind could come up with: show up on time no matter what.

And so there he stood, towering over all the others present in the room, staring down upon the little boy being held to his love's chest. He was slightly surprised when the child immediately calmed down and stopped crying when his wife took him in her arms and opened his eyes to show that they were the same color as his own. He was then even more surprised when the child turned his head towards him and looked him straight in the eyes, as if he knew who he was.

After looking at him, he saw as the boy slowly lifted his tiny, frail arms towards his direction and begin to make cooing sounds. "I think he wants you to hold him, Darling," chuckled Marianne, who was also surprised by her son's actions. And so, Charles slowly took the child from his beloved into his arms, being careful not to hurt him, and lifted him to his face, to which the child brought his small hands to. While his child touched his face, Charles looked into those small, violet eyes that matched his own and saw something he did not expect: recognition. It was as if this child knew that he was his father and recognized him as such. This brought surprise to Charles and, dare he say, hope for if this son of his in that he would prove a very capable offspring of his who was worthy of being called his heir. He severely hoped that that hope was not misplaced, as his other offspring were such disappointments with some being kind yet weak, like his first son Odysseus, or the vast majority being vain, spoiled brats, like his first daughter Guinevere, with but a few exceptions, mainly Schneizel and Cornelia. After all, this child was from his beloved Marianne, the strongest, liveliest, and most capable of all his wives, and the child already was showing signs of keen intellect after just recently being born. He quickly, however, put those hopes in the back of his mind, as it was best not to dwell on them and be disappointed later on in life if they were proven to be misplaced. 'Only tie will tell,' he thought, 'we shall see, son, whether or not you are as capable as I hope you are.'

And so, after giving back his beloved their son, and a quick goodbye to her, Charles zi Britannia departed the room back to the royal court with Bismarck in toe.

After her husband departed, Marianne began to examine her newly born son and think about the events that just occurred: the way he became silent after she held him, the manner in which he looked at her and her husband, the way he seemed to instinctively know and recognize both his parents, all of these caused her to feel confused, surprised, and (slightly) unnerving. 'Just what kind of child have I given birth to?' she thought. However, these thoughts left her as she her a soft humming noise and looked at her chest. There, she saw her newborn baby humming while rubbing his head into her chest trying to get comfortable, before going off to sleep. And so, feeling tired and weak as a result of giving birth, Marianne decided to follow her son's lead and daze off to sleep with her baby held gently in her arms, her last thought being of how she felt that her son was going to change the world.

Little did she know just how right her thought process was.

**A/N: And there is the first chapter of my new story people! Again, sorry for the delay in updates, but life can get pretty busy for some, and I will try to update both stories to the best of my abilities. Also, just a reminder, I don't own Code Geass, and I cannot affect it in any manner.**


	2. 2 - Early Years of the Demon Part 1

**A/N:**** Hello everybody, I'm back! And I got a new chapter ready for you all. Also, I'm free to any advice, so if you have any notes or ideas on how I could make this story better, let me know.**

**Chapter II – Early Years of the Demon Part 1**

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**March 2****nd****, 2003 a.t.b.**

Looking back over the past few years, Marianne couldn't help but marvel over how far her son had developed since the day he was born. At the mere age of seven months, he had said his first word, "Mama," much to her delight, and had began speaking like a toddler the following month, then began speaking like an average adult on his ninth month of life. Also, when he was nine months old, he learned to take his first steps, before learning how to walk like a grown person on his tenth month. It quickly became apparent to her that her son was, to put it bluntly, a genius and a genuine prodigy in every sense of the word. What also became apparent to her was that her son was a bit of a mother's boy, as he devoted his all into loving her and spending as much time with her as possible, something she didn't really complain about it, as she loved spending all the time she could with her little boy.

Aside from his inhuman intellect, as well as his fierce love and devotion for his mother, what also amazed Marianne was his strange attitude. Her son was, to put it simply, a rather cold and distant child. He was paranoid to an extreme, always wary of people, be they royalty, nobility, military, and even a few commoners. And the way he interacted with others also astounded her, in that he would be kind and courteous to some while for the majority of people he was curt, serious, and on-guard. It was as if he could _sense_ people's inner feelings and thoughts and knew who to be wary of and who not, with the former being the majority of nobles and royals who made up the snake pit known as the royal court. There were only a few exceptions of people in the imperial family who were capable of eliciting any form of kindness and positivity from Lelouch, them being herself, Clovis, Cornelia, and his two little sisters Euphemia and Marrybell, his younger siblings by a few weeks. But even more surprising about her son was his ferocious defensive streak towards his loved ones, sending verbal assaults and glares who so much as hinted to threaten those he cared about.

One example in particular happened during Cornelia's celebration party for her acceptance into the military academy, where Lelouch absolutely destroyed a noble's pride and standing using only the power of words. The noble was the Earl of Philadelphia, and he had made an insulting comment about how women do not belong in the military right in front of everyone present in the ballroom. Marianne was going to give the boy a piece of her mind, when her son came up before she could and threatened the man who dared insult his half-sister's honor with execution under the pretense of Lèse-Majesté if he did not apologize to Cornelia immediately. It was not long after that threat that the man silenced himself and, swallowing his oversized pride, apologized to the princess whom he had just insulted. It goes without saying that whatever political support the Earl had previously quickly vanished after the humiliation he had suffered at the hands of the 11th prince.

However, despite how harsh Lelouch could be, Marianne could not help but feel pride and joy in her little boy for how far he had come and how devoted he was to his loved ones. And she could not wait to tell him the good news, that she was once again pregnant with his little sibling. Oh, how she couldn't wait to tell him the good news. She had already told her beloved Charles, who dismissively acknowledged it in the throne room while calmly celebrating it with her in private, and she was looking forward to her son's reaction when she told him about his little brother/sister.

"Mother!" That was the cry she heard out in the gardens o the Aries Villa before she turned to her right to see her son running towards her with a big smile on his face with arms out wide. Seeing what he wanted, Marianne knelt down with a smile on her face and her open, letting Lelouch embrace her before lifting a giggling Lelouch up and twirling him around while laughing. After a good three twirls, Marianne knelt down and put her son to overcome his dizziness. "Hello Lelouch," she greeted her son, "have you had a good day today?" Her son nodded before responding, "Yes Mother. I completed my lessons early so I thought I would sit out hear and read until you returned home." "Really," asked Marianne, "you wouldn't rather go play with Euphie and Marry than just sit here with your book and wait for me?" "That would have been fun," responded Lelouch, "but not as fun as it would have been with you there to play with us." Smiling at her son's response Marianne said, "That's so sweet Lelouch, it makes me so happy you feel that way, I love you." "I love you too, Mother." "Oh! I almost forgot, I have some big news." "What big news, Mother?" "You're going to have a new little sibling Lelouch." At this, Lelouch raised his eyebrow in confusion. 'How could that be big news,' he thought, 'after all, Father has a new child every couple of months from one of his many dozens of consorts.' "Okay Mother, but from which wife of Father will I have this new sibling?" At that, Marianne chuckled lightly, before placing her son's hand on her stomach. "Me," responded Marianne, "I'm about a month pregnant with your new little sibling." At this revelation, Lelouch's eyes widened in understanding, suddenly realizing why this news was so big, he would have his first full sibling! "Wow! That's amazing Mother! Which is it, a boy or a girl?" "It's too early to tell right now, we'll have to wait awhile to know for sure." Lelouch then rested his head against Marianne's stomach before speaking, "Well, whichever one it is Mother, I'll make sure to love him or her just as I love you." "Thank you Lelouch, that is all I could ask of you. Now, let's go down and play with little Euphie and Marry, shall we?" "Okay Mother!" And so, Marianne picked up her two-year-old son in her arms and went down to play with with Euphemia and Marrybell, with both mother and son excited about the future member of the family.

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**October 25****th****, 2003 a.t.b.**

It was 9:45 pm, and Lelouch paced outside his mother's chambers back and forth as he waited for the nurse to come out and tell him it was okay to come in and see his new sibling. It had been four months after his mother told him the big news that the doctor was able to determine that the baby would be a girl, and Lelouch was happy at finally knowing which gender it would be. Now, what he was feeling was not so much happiness like back then as nervousness: What if the baby was born unhealthy? What if Mother became weakened by her birth or worse? What if the rest of his "family" viewed his sister as easy prey and tried to make a move against her? All of these questions plagued young Lelouch's mind as he anxiously awaited outside for his mother to finish going through labor.

Finally, after what felt like days of waiting, the nurse came out into the hallway and spoke. "Excuse me, Your Majesty, but your mother has just finished giving birth to her new daughter, and you are free to come in and…" that was all the nurse could say before Lelouch bolted into his mother's chambers to find her smiling down at a sleeping little baby held gently in her arms while her husband stood to the right of her bed, wearing his ever-uncaring neutral face, with the Knight of One at his side. After taking a quick glance at his new daughter and his son at the door, Emperor Charles zi Britannia gave a quick word of congratulations to his favorite wife before departing the two, now three, members of his family in the room back to the imperial throne room. Immediately after his father left, Lelouch made his way to his mother's bedside to see the most beautiful baby girl he had ever seen before. Normally, a mother would not offer their toddler to hold their new baby sibling for the infant's safety, but Lelouch was a different case in both his amazing development and his upmost carefulness. And so, Marianne offered her son to hold his new sister in his arms, to which the 11th prince of Britannia immediately obliged and held the little girl in a careful embrace.

The moment she entered her brother's arms, the baby girl opened her violet eyes to look straight into his matching ones, to which the prince could only smile the warmest smile he could. Soon after seeing his sister's eyes, Lelouch looked over to Marianne and asked, "Do you have a name for her, Mother?" Nodding, Marianne responded, "Yes, her name is Nunnally, Nunnally vi Britannia." After hearing his mother's response, Lelouch placed his eyes back into contact with his little sister's before speaking. "Nunnally, huh? Well then, Nunnally, I'll make sure to take are and protect you to the best of my ability. I swear, I will never let anything happen to you." While her brother was saying all this, Nunnally was looking up at her brother with curiosity before yawning and nudging her head against her brother's chest before drifting off to sleep, who proceeded to slowly rock her back and forth as she did so. Seeing the way in which her newborn daughter interacted with his brother along with what her son swore and ow he interacted with the baby, Marianne couldn't help but smile at the scene. 'They already love each other,' that was her final thoughts before weariness overtook her and she followed her daughter's lead and dozed off to sleep. Seeing that his mother was fast asleep, Lelouch kissed her forehead before heading over to the nearby crib, kissing Nunnally's forehead, and putting her in her little crib before sitting in a nearby chair and going to sleep himself.

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**December 15****th****, 2005 a.t.b.**

Whenever Marianne thought about her eldest child, she always thought of him as the perfect mixture of herself and the man she loved, Charles. In terms of his father, Lelouch had inherited his father's cold persona, his stone-hard face, and his natural charisma. And from herself, Lelouch had inherited his black hair, his body figure, and his flair for the dramatic. While from both of his parents, Lelouch had inherited his amazing amount of keen, raw intellect as well as his violet eyes. Lelouch was, in every way imaginable, the perfect mix between his two parents, the closest thing to a perfect child.

True, Marianne did love both of her children dearly, be it her son Lelouch or her daughter Nunnally, however she would be lying if she said she did not favor one more than the other. Nunnally was a very beautiful girl, even for a two-year-old, but she seemed to lack many of the features that had made Lelouch such a special child, much to her dismay. Both her and Charles were looking rather forward to child similar to Lelouch and had grown very excited at the idea, so it had been a minor disappointment to the both of them when Nunnally proved to be not as much a prodigy as her big brother. However, in the end, Marianne did not let it bother her much and loved her daughter all the same. Also, she could not bear to see the look on Lelouch's face if she were to separate him from Nunnally, as the boy had poured all of his heart and soul into loving her from the day she was born.

It was peculiar at the beginning, at least for those who knew Lelouch, to see the boy finally express that level of devotion and love for somebody other than Marianne, a detail that actually made the woman feel _jealousy_ towards her daughter, as preposterous as it was to her. Perhaps she had simply grown to attached and fond of the fierce devotion and immense love her son had shown to her, something she had done her best to reciprocate in kind at the same level and honestly hoped that she did. But now the young prince had another light in his life other than his mother in the form of his precious little sister, shining brightly in her kindness and joy, who could make her older brother concede and give in to her very request and demand. Her daughter was the only person on earth, other than herself at least, who could make Lelouch do anything she asked for without question, even if it was playing house or doing physical activity, something he was absolutely terrible with. And she was happy, for both herself and her two children.

Another thing about Nunnally that Marianne noticed was that, in more ways than one, she was the exact opposite of Lelouch. For instance, while Lelouch was cold and hard towards most people except for a select few, Nunnally was kind and courteous to everyone. In fact, while Lelouch seemed to be inhumanly dark, intolerant, and distant as a person, Nunnally seemed appeared to be inhumanly kind, patient and understanding. It almost scared Marianne just how different her two children were in terms of personality, and even more so how they still were so close despite being so different. However, Nunnally also showed some similarities with her brother on a more minor scale, such as having amazing intellect but not near the level of Lelouch's, and being able to tell someone's inner feelings, their inner thoughts, or whether they are lying simply by touching their hand while Lelouch simply needed to be near them. Also, Nunnally was shown to be very clingy towards those she loved, especially her mother and brother, but slightly more so towards latter than the former, something that actually brought envy to her mother, who had grown so attached to her son's clinginess to her that she could not help but want the same from her daughter. Despite of this, Marianne moved passed it and cherished the love her daughter did show to her and loved her just as she loved Lelouch. However, Marianne was also able to notice a strong suit that she seemed to inherit from herself that Lelouch did not, her liveliness and activeness, as she seemed to always want to run around, be active, and play with her mother and big brother who always conceded, no matter how tired and exhausted he became at the end.

And that, right there, was the only part that drew some form of lacking from Lelouch and disappointment from Marianne, his poor physical stature, which was below even the average child of his age. It may have been a rather trivial desire of hers, considering how far he had come to prove himself in, as well as surpass, virtually every other aspect both herself and Charles could have possibly wanted in their son, and yet it would seem that she could not, for the life of herself, help but desire more from her little boy, despite how unfair it sounded.

And these were the thought Marianne was having as she saw the said boy walk up to her with a history book in his hand. However, unlike the smiling, cheerful state she was usually greeted to from Lelouch, she was presented with a frowning version of her son whose eyes seemed full of sadness, determination, and (for the first time in her memory) genuine fear.

"Mother," her son said down casted when he came up near her, "I have a request I would like to ask of you." Hearing the seriousness in her son's tone, Marianne suspiciously knelt down and responded, "Okay Lelouch, what is your request?" "I would like you to train me in both fitness and self-defense." Taken aback by her son's request, as it was both ironic considering her previous thoughts and shocking due to him never having an interest in physicality before, Marianne asked, "Lelouch, while I am happy about your request, I have to ask what brought this up, since you have never shown an interest in physical activity before." Instead of answering his mother's question, Lelouch held up the book he was holding for his mother to see its title: "The History of the Imperial Family." Then, after his mother saw the book's title, he turned to a specific chapter near the end of the book and showed its label to his mother: "The Emblem of Blood." At seeing the title of the chapter, Marianne suddenly had flashbacks of the past to that particular event, which was possibly Britannia's darkest time since 1807 a.t.b. when Britannia lost its true home of the British Isles to Napoleon Bonaparte: the treachery, the scheming, the assassinations (including her beloved's mother and father), the brief civil wars (one of which led to the death of her own parents), as well as all the utter chaos and destruction that came with it until the day she helped to assassinate the 97th emperor and to instill her beloved on the throne, who finally brought order and peace back to Britannia and ended the horrific nightmare. After finally returning her mind to the present, Marianne looked concerned and serious at her son and asked, "Lelouch, where did you get this book?" "From the Imperial Library," her son answered, "but that doesn't matter. The important thing is that learning this part of history helped me to understand just how frail the state of this empire's political unity is, as well as how much potential danger you and Nunnally are really in. That's why I want you to teach me both fitness and self-defense, so that I can protect you and Nunnally to the best of my abilities, even if I have to do it all by myself." Momentarily taken aback by the sheer determination in Lelouch's voice, Marianne too awhile before she was able to form her words and respond, "Lelouch, sweetie, that's very nice of you to care about me and your sister that way and protect us so badly, but you don't really need to worry, I am more than capable of taking care of myself as well as you and your sister. Plus, I doubt your father would allow anything to-" "NO!" Marianne was immediately shocked at her son's interruption and became quiet. "I can't just rely on father! Even if only half of what this book says is true about the Emblem of Blood, then there is no such thing as safe for anyone in this palace that is safe!" Then, after that rant, Lelouch buried himself into his mother's dress and hugged her tightly. Shortly after he did so, Marianne began to feel a warm, wet area on her dress, which she quickly realized was from Lelouch's tears. 'My perfect boy is actually crying,' she thought in both shock and sadness. She had never seen her little boy cry since the day he was born, and she quickly realized she never wanted to see him do so again. "Please," she heard her baby boy sob into her dress, "please train me Mother, I want to be strong enough that I can protect you and Nunnally. I couldn't bear the thought of losing either of you." Finally giving in to her son's demands, Marianne knelt down and hugged a sobbing Lelouch in her arms before responding, "Okay Lelouch, I'll train you if this is that important to you. However, my training is hard, and I won't go easy on you just because you're my son. Do you thin you can handle that, honey?" Pulling himself back and wiping his tears, Lelouch nodded his head and looed into his mother's eyes before responding. "Yes," he said with determination, "it doesn't matter how hard the training is, I will try to the best of my ability to get stronger to protect you and Nunnally!" Smiling at her son's response, Marianne took Lelouch in her arms and carried him back to their home of the Aries Villa. "Sleep well tonight Lelouch," Marianne told her son, "because tomorrow we start our training and try to finally put some meat on your little bones." Chuckling at his mother's words, Lelouch nodded and waited until they got home, unaware of the torture and pain he was in for tomorrow.

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**November 12****th****, 2006 a.t.b.**

**Aries Villa**

It had been nearly a year since she began her training regiment for her son, and Marianne can honesty say she was proud of how far her boy had come. Marianne made good on her promise before the day they first started, and she worked her son to the bone during their first day of training. After the day was over, Marianne had to admit she was more than a little disappointed, as he was already tired after he took just one lap around the Aries Villa's gardens and was completely pooped out by the time he finished his push-ups. In fact, by the time they were finished, Lelouch had passed out right in then and there, leaving Marianne to carry her completely exhausted son to bed. And the same could be said for the next few following days, however, in time, his stamina and endurance began to increase dramatically as well as his strength to the point that, by the end of February, he was actually above the other kids his age in terms of physical stature. In fact, by this very month his physical stature was like that of a ten-year-old, he could run like a beginner runner, and he could fight like a cadet after the first three weeks of the military academy. It was quite a surprise to everyone, but with Marianne's ruthless training regimen and Lelouch's unwavering commitment to becoming stronger, Lelouch's progress skyrocketed like nobody could have predicted.

The only downside to the progress was Nunnally started to throw small tantrums because she couldn't spend as much time with her big brother, to which Lelouch tried the best of his abilities to make up for in the spare time he spent with her. However, after a few days, Nunnally ceased in throwing her tantrums, a huge reason being in part to her big brother and mother's pleading, and instead switched to treasuring the moments she had to spend time with and play with her big brother, something he always made sure to make time for. 'Honestly,' Marianne thought, 'the love they show each other and me is something I never would have expected to experience. I am such a lucky mother.'

However, those thoughts would have to rest, as she had to focus on the challenge that her son was facing right now: a chess match against his older half-brother, Schneizel el Britannia. It all started two months ago when Clovis challenged Lelouch to a friendly game of chess, which Lelouch absolutely dominated and won in less than three minutes, leaving Clovis completely flabbergasted. After that, word traveled fast across Pendragon about the match and how Lelouch won with ease, and the next thing Marianne knew her son was being swarmed by nobles who whished to challenge him to a match. However, unlike with Clovis, these matches involved betting money and the nobles were challenging Lelouch as a subtle message of showing their superiority by beating the "commoner prince." None the less, Lelouch accepted all of their matches and, just like with Clovis, beat and utterly humiliated his opponents, winning anywhere from ten thousand to seven million pounds after each match. This little pattern of chess matches continued on for two months until Lelouch was finally challenged by Schneizel to a match, the other famous undefeated member of the royal family, with a wager of one million pounds. And so here they were, the two princes dead-focused on their game (with both internally admitting this to be their greatest challenge yet), with Lelouch supported by his mother and a few of her friends in court (namely Ruben Ashford, Victoria li Britannia, Gabrielle la Britannia, and Floral mel Britannia) while Schneizell was supported by the vast majority of the rest of the nobles present (who were hoping he would finally "put the half-blood prince in his place") each move was careful and calculated but Lelouch mde several shocking moves using his king piece. This went on for a solid thirty minutes until finally, Lelouch made a deciding move that was the deciding factor of the game. Schneizel, the grand master of the poker face, had for a brief moment let a shocked expression appear on his face, before stoning his face once more before asking, "Draw?" Lelouch accepted Schneizel's offer and they shook hands to solidify the decision, with there being no exchange of money due to a lack of a loser. Everyone was shocked, with Marianne's party being happy while she was almost bursting with pride, and Schneizel's party inwardly seething in rage because they did not get the outcome they wanted. "Well done Lelouch," congratulated Schneizel, "but I have to ask, why were you so continuous in your use of the king piece?" To this, Lelouch smiled before responding, "it's simple Schneizel, if the King does not lead how can he expect his subjects to follow him?"

Afterwards, people began to file out of the Aries Villa to go back about their business, until only Marianne, her friends, and her son were left. Smiling at her son, Marianne bent down and kissed her son's forehead before talking, "I'm so proud of you Lelouch! You may not have beaten Schneizel like the rest, but you did your best and made it a draw, that's an accomplishment all to itself. Congratulations sweetie!" "Thanks Mother," responded Lelouch, "I'm just happy at the fact that I didn't lose." They continued on talking until they heard multiple screams coming from behind them. "Lelouch!" "Lulu!" "Big brother!" Looking behind them, they saw a group of little girls running straight towards them with big smiles on their faces. In the back of the group was Marrybel mel Britannia holding hands with her little sister Julia mel Britannia, in the middle of the group was Euphemia li Britannia, and at the forefront of the group was Nunnally vi Britannia with the biggest smile on her face and her arms out wide. Opening his arms out wide as well, Lelouch let his little sister run straight into him and latch around him like a vine, while Marrybell and Euphemia each too one of his arms, and they began talking about the match and how it was a draw before the three girls screamed at once: "Can we play now?!" When her son looked at her for an answer, Marianne nodded yes to Lelouch, seeing as how he completed all his lessons before the chess match, and the five children ran off to the gardens to play together.

Meanwhile, near the edge of the gardens behind a tree, there was a green-haired girl at the physical age of sixteen who was spying on the events taking place in the gardens, paying specific attention to the boy who beat the second prince and was currently being dragged off by his sisters to play with them. 'How interesting,' thought the girl, 'perhaps that boy is the one I have been looking for. The one to finally grant me my wish.'

* * *

**A/N:**** Well, there's the first half of the second part. Sorry for the long wait, but I just came back from a long family vacation and didn't have time to write so I couldn't add anything until now. I hope you all liked the way I remade Lelouch, especially in his new mental abilities. I decided to make it how he had basically the same abilities as Nunnally, except instead of needing to touch someone's hand to read their inner feelings and thoughts, he simply needs to be near them. However, in my story he is able to control it and turn it on or off, which explains why he did not now that Marianne was pregnant until she told him. Also, I remade him to be far more physically capable than his canon version, which you all will see will be significant in future chapters, see you all then! And remember, I do not own Code Geass in any shape or form. That's all folks, see you all next chapter!**


	3. 3 - Early Years of the Demon Part 2

**A/N:**** Hello everyone, I'm back with the second half of the second part of my story. I didn't intend for this part of the story to be divided into two halves at the beginning, but the length of it became so great that I decided to divide it to avoid posting an overstretched chapter. And yes, to some of the reviewers out there, this part of the story will take some inspiration from 'Enduring Retribution,' as well as other sources, but afterwards it will be all original. Anyway, let's move on and see how the story unfolds.**

**Chapter III – Early Years of the Demon Part 2**

* * *

**October 3****rd****, 2007 a.t.b.**

**Emperor's Private Study**

For the first time in a long while, Charles zi Britannia began to feel something he had not felt in a long while, pride. Specifically, he felt pride in his and his beloved Marianne's son, Lelouch vi Britannia. Their boy was, to put it bluntly, a genius in every sense of the word. In the many years he ruled as emperor over one third of the world, the vast majority of his wives (most of which he married for political alliances) and children proved to be, much to his disappointment, completely incompetent and utterly parasitic nuisances. There were some exceptions to this list, however, such as his beloved Marianne (the only wife he married out of love), Cornelia, and especially Schneizel, whom he respected despite his obscurity and questionable loyalties, but none stood out more than his eleventh son, Lelouch.

At the age of a few months, his son had already learned to walk and talk like a fully-grown adult. At the age of five years, he was taking college-level courses and studies, something not even Schneizel did at that age. And at the age of six years, he began to train to improve his physical capabilities (his only apparent weakness), and they grew to surpass those of people who were years older than him and become like those of a child athlete. However, what really impressed Charles was the boy's more recent exploits, namely the creation of Lamperouge Industries (L.I. for short) through all of the money he made through his gambles with the nobles, which produced everything from commercial products, to medical aid, to military technology. While the name of the CEO of the company was officially unknown (despite the name's obvious implication), he knew who it was through his beloved who was told by Lelouch himself. When he questioned how Marianne managed to get Lelouch to tell her he was the CEO of L.I., she replied, "I simply asked him if it was him, and he answered truthfully that it was as well as asked me to be discreet about it." And she was, as besides from himself, Marianne had not told a soul. After hearing her response, Charles asked, "And why would Lelouch not want anyone to know he was the one in charge of Lamperouge Industries, Marianne?" "Well dear, when I asked him why, he simply said that he did not want to make himself known too well until his Foundation Day, where the whole Imperial Court will learn who he is." Charles contemplated this and found himself agreeing with his son's logic as it was best to not let your potential enemies to know too much about you until the time was right. This simply astounded Charles, at the mere age of six, his son had not only managed to create and run a business that was slowly, after less than a year of existence, starting do dominate the Britannian economy, but also learn a few things about playing the game of power before even entering the political arena.

In addition to creating Lamperouge Industries, Lelouch had also hired a great many number of new servants for the Aries Villa, after he gained permission from Marianne of course. The vast majority of these new servants had one thing in common, after Charles and Marianne ran a background check on them, and that was they all had experience in combat, from assassination to military experience. When he asked Marianne why their son had hired such a large influx of new servants, she told him that Lelouch said that he wanted her and Nunnally to always be safe no matter what, whether he was there or not.

And that, right there, seemed to be two of Lelouch's strongest attributes, in Charles's opinion: his huge case of paranoia as well as his fierce devotion to his loved ones, especially Marianne and Nunnally. However, Charles was not among those people he loved, which he could understand since while he did visit him, Nunnally, and Marianne more so than any of his other wives and children, that still was very few visits being only around thirty occasions or less. The truth was, neither Lelouch or Charles could honestly say that they loved each other, however, they did respect each other and were at least fond of one another. Nonetheless, it astounded Charles just how fiercely protective Lelouch was to those close to him, as he went everywhere from glaring to outright threatening with death those that so much as looked at his precious people the wrong way. In fact, Lelouch's devotion to those he loved seemed to, dare he say, match his and his brother's own devotion to bringing about the Ragnarök Connection, which he could understand as one of their main desires for bringing about Ragnarök was to reunite with their lost loved ones, namely their mother and father.

From his amazing intellect, to his preparedness for anything, to his amazing exploits, and to his fierce devotion to those he loves, Lelouch proved to his father time and time again that he had the most potential out of all his children and that he was one of the best choices as his heir.

Such thoughts were pushed to the back of his mind as he glanced down at the mountain-load of paperwork at his desk, scowling at the pile beneath him before sighing and rubbing his temple. 'I swear, these workloads are getting more stressful each day,' thought Charles, 'perhaps I should diverge some of these more irksome responsibilities to Schneizel. After all, I have been looking for a new Prime Minister.'

* * *

**November 17****th****, 2007 a.t.b.**

**Aries Villa**

"…And then little Lulu ended up chasing Nunnally all over the gardens until he finally collapsed from exhaustion," said Marianne to Charles before chuckling, "it seems despite all his training he still cannot outrun his little sister, she sure is one little ball of energy." Grinning ever so slightly in amusement at his wife's talk of their children's playing yesterday, Charles continued walking through the Aries Villa's gardens arm-in-arm with Marianne until they came across a certain scene in front of them. A few feet in front of them, under a tree, was C.C. who was, as usual, currently eating through several boxes of pizza without break all while Lelouch sat next to her reading a book labeled "Medicines and Disease," most likely to help develop new medicines for the medical institutions of L.I.

This particular circumstance along with many others were the reason why Marianne and Charles began to feel concern towards their son in regard to his and C.C.'s seemingly friendly relationship between each other. While they did not feel that much worry after their first meeting the day after Lelouch and Schneizel's chess match, the sheer number of encounters they caught the two having afterwards had inevitably led to the two having suspicion toward C.C.'s intentions involving their son.

"Darling," Marianne said to her husband, "I have to say, the amount of times we have caught C.C. and Lelouch together is starting to worry me. Do you think, maybe, that she has formed a contract with him?" Marianne had to admit, the idea of Lelouch entering into a contract with C.C. Not only because such a thing could potentially threaten the plan her, Charles, and V.V. had, but also because she feared it may ruin him when his Geass evolves just as it did with Mao, C.C.'s last contractor. And while she took the risk when she entered into a contract with C.C., she could not stand the idea of her son taking the same potential risk that she had. Contemplating what his wife said, Charles took a few moments to think before responding, "While I agree with you, Dear, that the immortal's fascination with our son is both friendly and slightly unsettling, I don't believe its anything that we should be concerned about. After all, if she did enter a contract with Lelouch, I have no doubt either I would have felt it in the Sword of Akasha or my brother would have informed us about it." "He might have informed you perhaps, but I doubt he would do the same courtesy for me. And I fear even more so what he might one day do to Lelouch, as while he does seem to somewhat like him for his resemblance to you, for the most part he seems to hate Lelouch's very being for both his resemblance to me and the mere fact that I am his mother." Silence overtook the couple for awhile as they once more put their attentions towards C.C. and Lelouch under their little tree, their conversation being completely unintelligible to the two parents of the boy. The silence was finally broken by Charles, after inwardly pondering what his wife said, when he spoke, "I do not believe V.V. will make a move against you or our son for the time being, right now he is more concerned about not hurting me and bringing about Ragnarök than he is about his petty grudge against you. As for C.C., we can always increase surveillance on her, but at the moment she poses no threat to us, so long as she gets her greatest wish granted. Also, we must make sure that she does not become suspicious of us, since being the head of the Geass Directorate, she can become a real thorn in our side if she wants to."

"While I agree that that is the best course of action Charles, I cannot help but feel that you are not taking Lelouch's safety as seriously as I am. He is, after all, the closest you and I have to a perfect child. He is only seven years old and already utterly surpasses nearly all of your other children. In fact, even Schneizel seems to be wary of him, and Lelouch of him, as if they are just waiting for one of them to back-stab the other." Charles did not respond to his wife's latest comment, instead choosing to reflect on the implications behind it. Whatever may come, however, he would be ready. In the end, no matter the cost, Ragnarök _had_ to be achieved. While he felt genuine respect for Lelouch and love for Marianne, and would truly miss them if and when they died, their deaths would be remedied once the Collective Unconscious known as the World of C was destroyed, permanently merging the minds of all the people of both the living and the dead, ending the lies, deceit, and strife throughout the world and bringing about the gentler existence that his parents wanted.

It was soon after coming to this resolution that Marianne brought his attention back to herself by delivering a quick jab to his ribs with her elbow. Once grabbing his attention, Marianne then directed his eyes towards an approaching C.C., the immortal girl holding her right arm on her chest and having an almost unnoticeable blush on her cheeks. Now this _really_ caught Charles's attention. In all the years they have known her, neither Marianne nor himself had ever seen the woman express any other forms of emotion besides annoyance or slight amusement, yet here a genuine expression of happiness seemed to find its way on the immortal's face. Such detail of the immortal did not go unnoticed by Marianne either, who even saw her contractor's lips curl ever so slightly upwards into the faintest trace of a smile. 'What exactly happened between my son and C.C. to make her act this way?' Marianne thought to herself. "What's got you acting so unusually happy, C.C.?" Marianne asked the immortal girl. C.C. remained quiet for a moment, before finally answering Marianne's question. "It was just something your son said to me'" she stated, with a tone that held traces of suppressed joy and happiness. "Oh, what did he say?" "Well… we were talking until he asked why I hardly ever smile, and I told him that through years of experience I have lost any joy in living and actually look forward to the day I die. After saying that, he told me that he promised to one day make me find joy in living again, as someone like me more than deserves to be happy." This bit of information made both Marianne and Charles widen their eyes slightly in shock, as this was not something they expected to hear. Then, before Marianne could ask her more, C.C. quickly walked away, finding refuge somewhere else in the Aries Villa's walls with a content and genuine smile being present on her face.

"I dare say Marianne, our boy is surely a very unique person indeed…" Charles stated, interest and impression apparent in his voice. His son's ability to make the otherwise cold and emotionless C.C. feel genuine happiness was something that really surprised him. "It seems that, as I said earlier, it may be wise to watch those two more closely." "I agree. Oh, our son is growing up so fast, already he's becoming a little lady's man." A playful tease with a hint of pride worming its way into the otherwise serious statement to her husband's words. And with that, both 98th Emperor Charles zi Britannia and 5th Empress Consort Marianne vi Britannia parted ways, the former towards the Imperial Throne Room and the latter towards the mansion of the Aries Villa. Truly their son was a very special person.

* * *

**December 5****th****, 2007 a.t.b.**

**Imperial Throne Room**

Today was Lelouch's 8th Birthday, but more than that, today was his Foundation Day. Ever since the ascension of 98th Emperor Charles zi Britannia, it has been customary for the members of the royal family, either through birth or through marriage, to enter the public spotlight upon the day of their birth. For those married, this day marks their entry into the lion's den known as imperial court politics, usually happening a few days after the day of their marriage. For those born, such a ceremony was withheld until the child's 8th birthday, their level of maturity and intellect being considered sufficient enough for their entry into the hornet's nest. The ceremony's true purpose however, contrary to its formal definition, was a much more sinister one: Power. Behind all the fake smiles and false respect of both aristocrats and royals, it was the hidden search for power that dominated these occasions, an event to present those entering the grand scheme of things to the cesspool known as the imperial court. It was upon such days that the members of the court, men and women, royals and nobles, made their way to evaluate future members of the grand battle for power and evaluate whether they were ally or enemy, nuisance or threat, dangerous or weak. Here, there was no loyalty or allies, just enemies and friends of mutual convenience. The supreme truth of the event was key: Pragmatism is king, friends are a convenience, everyone else is either an inconvenience or an enemy.

Here, Charles sat upon his throne, eyes glancing over the throne's room audience of the day. Today was both his son's 8th birthday as well as his Foundation Day, his time of formal introduction into the viper nest known as imperial court, and he knew, more so than anybody else, that the boy would receive no mercy, no matter how smart and amazing he had proven himself. Neither pride nor childhood innocence would help the poor boy, only with power and strength could his and Marianne's eldest child hope to succeed this day.

Of all his children, both young and old, it had been Lelouch who impressed him the most. From his earliest months, the boy had proven intelligent, charismatic, ruthless, manipulative, and, above all, determined. There had been nothing, be it rules or regulations, enemies or obstacles, or even his own natural weaknesses, that had impeded the boy's progress. Those feelings he had so quickly discarded upon the day of the boy's birth, those of hope and optimism in the infant that was held in both his and his beloved's arms, had made themselves known to him again as his son garnered victory after victory, never failing to disappoint, not even in physical stature when his son managed to improve it to be beyond that of most boys his age. 'Yes,' he inwardly concluded, 'of all my children, Lelouch comes off as the best choice as my heir.'

A slight pressure on his shoulder, courtesy of his favorite wife Marianne who was standing at his side, brought Charles out of his thoughts and back to the real world. "Its time Darling." She stated in all simplicity, a proud smile on her face, which he no doubt believed was from her coming to the same conclusion that he had. Rising from his throne and motioning with his right hand, the crowd fell silent. The time had some, either a new fellow predator or their new prey would soon arrive into the room. Seeing as they had all silenced themselves, Charles let out a single word that rang throughout the entire room and echoed across the stone walls that made up the walls of the Imperial Palace. "ENTER!" He bellowed. And following right after that, the massive double doors of the gate opened.

* * *

Standing towards the front right side of the room, 18-year-old Cornelia li Britannia, dressed in her royal guard uniform, eyed the massive doors of Pendragon Palace's throne room. As mandated by Imperial Law, both she and the other members of the imperial family who had come of age as well as all members of the higher echelons of the aristocracy had come to attend the Day of Foundation of the 11th prince and 17th in line for the throne, Lelouch vi Britannia. While imperial politics was one of her more hated activities, as she could barely stand the generally incapable, arrogant, parasitic aristocrats that made up the majority of the court and her family, she could not find it in herself to hate this particular day. After all, today was the Day of Founding for the eldest child of her idol, Lady Marianne, as well as her favorite little brother.

Cornelia had personally known Lelouch since the day after he was born and had met with the boy almost as many times as her little sister Euphemia, most often as his mother's head of security but also in play-dates alongside Euphemia sometimes, and was deeply marked by Lelouch's intelligence, demeanor, and fierce devotion to his loved ones. Not even at the age of 10, and the young prince had already shown knowledge, maturity, and understanding of the world way beyond his years. Although she kept a very close eye on him during his first few play-dates with Euphemia, Cornelia eventually grew to have a strong liking to him as time went on. That liking eventually grew into genuine, sisterly love as she observed how fiercely protective and caring Lelouch was towards not only little Euphie, but to her as well. Everything from how he defended Euphie from their half-siblings and nobles who despised her kind heart, to threatening those sexist pigs (like the one at her military acceptance party) who disrespected her choice to join the military proved time and time again how much Cornelia and Euphemia mattered to him and how dedicated he was to protecting them, and she couldn't help but loving him for it, viewing him as the little brother she always wanted.

And thus, here she was, awaiting her little half-brother's arrival and wondering how he will handle being surrounded by all these vultures who were just waiting for the right moment to swarm and overrun him. He would, most likely, be somewhat nervous about the whole ordeal, as she herself and even Schneizel were during their Foundation Days, although nobody could guess he was with that unreadable straight face he always wore. And then, the double doors to the Imperial Throne Room opened, and in walked her little brother.

* * *

"**Announcing Lelouch vi Britannia, 11****th**** Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire and 17****th**** in line for the Imperial Throne!"** An announcer's voice rang out across the palace's walls, right before a small figure made its way into the immensely large room that housed the Imperial Throne.

Marianne eyed her son as he made his way towards the front of the throne room, his pace both measured and slow, as if it was not the audience judging him, but rather him judging the audience. However, what really caught Marianne's attention as his choice of clothes. A small white cravat was around his neck, with her son's figure being shrouded by an overly elaborate pitch-black cape that had gold highlights along its edges, its enormous collar forming a seemingly protective shroud around his head. Underneath her son's cape, Marianne observed a dark purple suit, with gold highlight adorning it as well, framing her son's elegant and small body, giving him a rather imposing and intimidating figure, despite his rather short stature due to his age. Seeing this, Marianne could not help but smirk at her son's choice in clothes. 'He truly has inherited my flair for the dramatic,' the boy's mother thought to herself.

However, what really caught the 5th Empress's attention was her son's poker face, matching that of his brother, Schneizel's, as well as his wandering, glaring eyes. That face gave him, like his father, an aura of uncaring and waiting, as if the people around him were not worth the time of day and he was just waiting for a certain something to happen. What that something is, Marianne did not know, she would just have to wait and see.

And then, following a few whispers, her son suddenly stopped, before looking at a certain noble in the crowd with a look that screamed "hook, line, and center."

* * *

'Now then,' thought Lelouch, 'let's see which parasites open their mouths first and become my victims.' The entire process had been going just as he had planned it, from his clothes to his slow pace towards the throne and, as of now, the hidden comments about himself by the crowd surrounding him. His clothes purposefully gave him an appearance of villain and royalty, as well as reflect his newest alias of "The Black Prince," which he got from both his choice in always using the black pieces in chess and from being the "black sheep" of the royal family. Hidden within the depths of his of his cape lied both a voice recorder and a standard Britannian Infantry knife, its size and shape ensuring it could be easily withdrawn yet concealed until needed. And as luck would have it, such a time had come.

"Who is that boy?" An aristocratic lady whispered to a man standing next to her.

"It's that commoner filth Marianne's son. As if half-breed trash like him deserves to be here." The man replied, disgust and envy clearly apparent in his tone.

Slowly turning to face the man, an Earl or Duke he guessed, Lelouch gazed into the man's eyes, shooting him a glare that seemed to reach down into his soul. However, that glare briefly turned into a knowing and amused look, as if the prince was just waiting for something like this to happen. Then, in a seemingly innocent fashion, Lelouch addressed the man like a curious, naive child, "Pardon me, good sir, but what exactly do you think of me?" He asked in a sweetly-sick voice, the kind that promised pain behind kindly laced words. The breach in usual decorum caught everyone off guard, especially the noble Lelouch was addressing as he slurred his response "W-Whatever do you mean, Your Highness?" His response was laced with confusion and a hint of fear in his tone. Still looking into the older man's eyes, Lelouch repeated himself in the same tone as the first time, "I asked you what exactly you think of me, I am merely curious." The noble took a moment to steel himself before responding in a forced-respectful and cautious tone, "Its not my place to judge you, Your Highness, as according to Imperial Law you stand above me in every manner." Lelouch's innocent smile then turned into a demonic smirk, causing the aristocrat's blood to run cold and actually fear for his life. "_Oh really?_" Lelouch asked rhetorically with a tone that practically spoke amusement which everyone heard, "then would you kindly explain _this_?" Under his cape, Lelouch pressed the playback button on his recorder, which them began to replay the words of the nobleman's statement for the whole court to hear. **"It's that commoner filth Marianne's son. As if half-breed trash like him deserves to be here."** The nobleman was now shaking in fear, his act of defiance to the emperor's son was now played for the whole empire to hear. It didn't matter if the majority of the court agreed with him, not that any of them would dare voice such treasonous words out in the open, especially in their mighty emperor's presence. However, his worries were increased exponentially as the next words of the 11th prince were spoken. "It would appear you do not agree with my heritage or me being your prince, as you have clearly shown us all." Lelouch spoke, his tone laced with more amusement than before. "I seem to recall a certain law while reading the early sections of the Imperial Archives, interesting really. I believe it was called… Lèse-Majesté, right? And what was it stated was the penalty for treason, again? Oh, that's right!" He then looked at the nobleman with an emotionless face, before speaking with a cold, dark tone, "The penalty is death."

And with that, he quickly pulled out the knife he had hidden beneath his cape before dashing towards the nobleman with speeds far greater than most kids his age and stabbing the knife straight into the nobleman's stomach, causing the said man to scream and squeal like a pig, before pulling the knife right back out of his body. As the nobleman leaned down to cover his wound, Lelouch slashed his blade horizontally upward and slit the man's throat, sealing his fate. The nobleman than fell to the ground shaking and gurgling his own blood, before he stopped struggling all together as his body became a lifeless husk.

* * *

Silence permeated the Imperial Throne Room as those present realized what had just occurred: a mere 8-year-old boy, son of 5th Empress Consort Marianne, had just stabbed and killed one of those in attendance with the mercilessness and skills of a trained assassin, invoking his right to do so from one of Britannia's oldest laws, technically legal in its basis due to lack of oversight. The tenseness in the room was palpable, as all those who were mere moments ago silently voicing the same thing as the now-dead nobleman was now fell silent in fear for their own lives.

'Now this certainly is interesting,' Charles zi Britannia thought, having never imagined, or experienced, such an ordeal to happen during his reign as emperor. 'I may once again be made proud by my beloved's son.' An almost unnoticeable smirk made its way across the emperor's lips, internally approving the boy's actions. Eyeing the child that was his 11th son, Charles noticed the boy looking at the floor with a look of disgust and annoyance. "We're going to have to get the servants to come in here and clean this mess up quickly, lest the odor permeate the room and the blood stain the floor…" he muttered to himself just loud enough for the whole court room to hear. It was clearly a message, dismissing and insulting the aristocrats present as nothing more than bugs to be squashed beneath his heal. Resuming his previous advance towards the throne where the emperor sat, albeit at a slightly faster pace this time, Lelouch bowed before his father, bending one knee and placing his right hand over his heart, when he was but a few feet from the steps that led up to the Imperial Throne. Then, with a voice that was unwavering and unfearful (as if absolutely nothing bad just happened), Lelouch spoke, "Hail, Your Majesty! I am Lelouch vi Britannia, son of 5th Empress Marianne vi Britannia, Prince of the Empire. I have come today to begin my service towards the empire, as both a Prince to Britannia and the CEO of Lamperouge Industries." This brought another wave of surprise to the imperial court, as not only did this boy just kill a man for the whole world to see, but he also revealed himself to be the owner of a powerful corporation that was slowly climbing the ladder for control over Britannia's economy.

Charles looked down at the kneeling form of his and Marianne's son, before speaking, "I recognize you as a part of the Imperial Court. You may rise my son." His tone when addressing the boy was neutral, which was actually _very_ different from his usually dismissive and uncaring tone's nature. "While your presence has been mandated, I cannot turn a blind eye towards the slaying of one of my followers. Would you care to explain your actions to me?" "It is simple, Your Majesty," Lelouch responded, "he committed treason to the throne by insulting me and my blood, a blood shared with both my mother, the 5th Empress, and yourself, Your Majesty. It is, essentially, a direct insult upon yourself, one that cannot go unpunished if we are to keep our system from becoming weak." 'Interesting response,' Charles thought, 'but let us see how you respond to this.' "And how does the killing of one of the Britannian Empire's strongest aristocrats not weaken our great nation?" The Emperor demanded, his tone flat yet with a hint of interest, if one payed _very_ close attention to it. Lelouch simply gazed into his father's eyes, unflinching and unafraid, before responding, "Strong, you say? How can you claim such a parasite to be a symbol of strength if he not only wasn't smart enough to recognize when to keep his mouth shut, but was capable of being killed by a mere _child_? If such is the definition of strength than I fear this great empire is doomed. We cannot tolerate the inefficiency and stupidity of such people in such high positions of power in our government." The argument was both sound and measured, both preventing any attempt at refute and indirectly shooting insults to those present in court and labeling them as incompetent and unintelligent. The best answer anyone could possibly give. Charles found himself once again feeling immense pride towards his son as he thought over his answer to his question. "You are correct in your assessment. The strong dominate and devour the weak, that is the way of the world, and if this weakling could not defend himself from you nor was he intelligent enough to know when to restrain himself than I have no doubt in the truth of your claim. You have my blessing, my son. Dismissed."

This little event had left the whole court incredibly shocked and, at least for some people, with a sense of understanding of what the message was that the emperor sent them. They were shocked because never, in all the many years of his reign, did Emperor Charles zi Britannia give any of his children his blessing over a simple act, _especially_ a mere child. And the smarter members of the court understood the hidden message present in their emperor's words: bloodlines and titles will not save you, if you prove incompetent and unreliable you will be to tossed aside like garbage. All of this coupled together led to this Foundation Day leading up to be the most hectic one there has ever been.

Having come out of their inner thoughts, the crowd turned their gaze back to the now leaving form of Prince Lelouch vi Britannia, as he made his way towards the two highly decorated doors at the entrance. At the moment he approached the corpse of the an he just killed, he looked down and made a deliberate look of disgust before stepping over it, like a man over a piece of trash, and continuing his walk out of the Imperial Throne Room until the double doors shut behind him.

While on the outside Charles had his usual face of unfeeling and uncaring, on the inside he was laughing his butt off at the whole event that just unfolded. 'Well played, Lelouch,' he thought, 'well played indeed.'

* * *

Schneizel el Britannia was not a man who could be easily surprised, always thinking and planning for every possible outcome, he was always prepared for anything and almost always right about everything. In fact, the last time he was surprised was back in 2006 a.t.b. when he was forced into a draw in a chess match by his younger half-brother, Lelouch, which was the first time he was ever forced into a draw and the first time he ever even came close to losing a chess match. And today, Lelouch managed to surprise Schneizel yet again, through both his killing of that nobleman and his rational reasoning behind it. Their father actually giving Lelouch his _blessing_ for his deed only created further shock for the White Prince.

The voice of his younger half-sister, Cornelia, broke Schneizel out of his thoughts and brought him back to the real world, "To think that Le-Lelouch would even be capable of doing such a thing. What on Earth just happened?! "To be honest," Schneizel replied, "I cannot say for sure. I had expected a variety of scenarios to play out today, but I would be lying if I said that what just happened was one of them." He then went back into his thoughts, eyes narrowed and focused as he went back to contemplating the recent events brought about by his younger half-brother, before his eyes slightly widened as realization hit him with the force of a freight train and he stated, "this must have all been one massive performance to him." "What?! What could possible make you believe such a thing?" Schneizel then looked at his sister with a flat and knowing look before he responded to her hushed question. "Think about it Cornelia, we both know that the main purpose of Foundation Day is to display one's power and strength before the whole of the Britannian Empire. The events we have just witnessed coincide perfectly with that aforementioned objective. Why else would Lelouch kill a nobleman in cold blood, justification in mind, with the tools necessary to carry it out. His logical and reasonable explanations to our father, as well as his peculiar choice in fashion, only further proves that he planned this all from the beginning, that this was all a performance to him, one that gave him an aura of confidence, strength, and ruthlessness, from which he can build up a reputation to further gain more power. For what, I cannot ay for sure, but the fact that he killed that man without pity or mercy proves how dedicated he is to whatever his goal is, and only time will tell what he will become in the future." 'And weather he will become my ally or my enemy,' thought Schneizel. Her older half-brother's reasoning not only convinced Cornelia of what Schneizel had stated but also made her quite nervous about what else Lelouch is capable of. 'I'll have to keep a closer eye on Euphemia as she plays with Lelouch from now on,' thought Cornelia with concern.

It was later the voice of Clovis that voiced the one question that had been on both Cornelia and Schneizel's minds, "W-Was that really our little brother, Lelouch?" And Schneizel and Cornelia could understand as Lelouch had always treated Cornelia and Clovis with kindness and respect, so it was quite a change in demeanor for him to outright _kill_ a man. Whatever other thoughts they had on Lelouch were put on hold as the emperor called the court session to a close and everyone made their way out of the Imperial Throne Room.

* * *

**Aries Villa Gardens**

It had been an hour since Lelouch left the Imperial Throne Room, and Marianne was making her way through the gardens of her home, looking for her son to congratulate him on presenting himself with such strength and confidence. However, when she found her little boy, he was under a tree with wide eyes filled with shock and was taking deep breaths as if trying to calm himself down. Worried for her son, Marianne quickly made her way to where he was before kneeling down and asking, "Lelouch, honey, what's wrong?" Lelouch then looked up at her and said, "I…I just killed a man. I thought I had prepared myself for it, b-but preparing to take someone's life and actually doing it are two _very_ different things." Marianne then understood and felt both pride and sadness for her son. With how mature, grown up, and developed he was, it was quite easy to forget that he was still just a child. Marianne then took Lelouch in her arms while trying to calm him down, which she eventually succeeded in as he stopped his heavy breathing and wrapped his arms around his mother. "You did well in not showing your shock in the court room, Lelouch," Marianne told her son, "now why don't we go back in the villa and find your sister, Nunnally? I'm sure she would be more than happy to see you again." "Okay." Hearing his response, Marianne stood up with Lelouch still in her arms before walking into the walls of their home.

* * *

**Emperor's Private Study**

In the emperor's private quarters, Charles, Marianne, and what appeared as a small, blonde-haired "child" discussed the day's recent events.

"I'm telling you Charles," V.V. ranted, "there is something wrong with that eleventh son of yours. His rate of development throughout his life goes way beyond normal, no matter how intelligent he is. And let's not forget about his actions in court today, as he not only killed a man without hesitation, but acted as if nothing happened, both of which are completely unnatural for any child, or anyone on their first kill for that matter." "I would have to disagree with you there, V.V.," spoke Marianne, "as he _was_ affected by killing that man, he just didn't show it in court. When I came back to the Aries Villa, I found him having a little nervous breakdown over what he did, and it took me over 10 minutes to calm him down. I don't know about you, but to me that's proof enough that he is still a person and not some huge monster you make him out to be." That last comment she made was said in a teasing tone in an attempt to lighten the mood, but her mere voice seemed to irk V.V. even more so. "While I do agree that his rate of development is rather unnatural," spoke Charles, "I have to agree with Marianne on her point as well. What she just said shows us that while Lelouch is a unique individual, he is still very much human."

The fact that Charles agreed with Marianne only seemed to further irritate V.V., as the tone he spoke in next showed even more annoyance than before. "That's not the point," he spoke, "what matters is that clearly something or someone has been affecting him, as I highly doubt he would act in such a way in his natural state. What of C.C., you think she may have a hand in this?" To this question, Marianne answered truthfully, "C.C.'s and Lelouch's interactions with each other have greatly diminished in the last month. While they used to meet every few days, hey now meet less than once a week, but they still seem to have a somewhat friendship between each other. I should know, since I'm C.C.'s friend as well." To this, V.V. gave a disagreeing snicker before responding: "You're not her friend, to C.C. you are a means to an end whom she merely gets along with, that is it. And considering that you have yet to activate your Geass after all these years, she may have grown tired of waiting and is considering making a contract with your son. Charles, surely you find their interactions as suspicious as I do? You cannot just let this go on unchecked." Contemplating what both his wife and older twin brother said, Charles took a moment to think before responding to his brother: "You are right, V.V., in that his dramatic rate of development as well as his interactions with C.C. are suspicious and unnerving, so I will increase surveillance over him as well as C.C. to make sure nothing that could threaten the plan will occur. However, at the moment, Lelouch poses almost no threat to us or the plan. He may have driven away any potential enemies for now during his Foundation Day entrance, but he also drove away any potential allies with how ruthless and heartless he appeared. The only power he has right now is that which comes from his corporation, Lamperouge Industries, a power I could take away with a single decree if I so wished. And at worse, if things get too far out of hand, we can always use Euphemia, Marrybel, or Nunnally to reign him in. In any case, he is a powerful piece in the game and could be very valuable if I use him to the best of my ability, which I intend to do."

Happy that his brother saw his point and listened to him, but still disappointed as he believed Charles was not taking this as seriously as he should be, V.V. simply stated, "very well, brother, I will leave the matter in your hands." Then he took his leave out of the study, most likely heading back to the Sword of Akasha to observe any new anomalies in the world's Thought Elevators.

Marianne then gave Charles a quick, but loving, kiss on he lips before waving him goodbye and taking her own leave from the study, her destination being a limousine parked outside the massive palace to drive her back to the Aries Villa, her children eager to see their mother again.

* * *

**Sword of Akasha**

Surrounded by the pillars in the only apparent place one could put their feet in the Sword of Akasha, V.V. thought over his latest encounter with his younger twin brother. 'I don't understand,' V.V. thought to himself, 'for some reason Charles seems to be listening to me less and less, and seems to be incapable of taking the matter of Lelouch seriously, why is that?' Then, his eyes widened slightly in realization before narrowing into a glare. 'I get it now, the reason why Charles doesn't take the matter of Lelouch seriously is the same reason why he is becoming increasingly distracted from the plan: _Marianne_!' The said that word in his head the most hatred and envy someone possibly could in their thoughts. 'He is distracted from the plan and me because of his love for that undeserving woman, and he does not feel as threatened by Lelouch because he is _her_ son. If this keeps up, Ragnarök may never be completed. I'm sorry Charles, but for the sake of the plan, something _must_ be done about that woman.'

* * *

**A/N: And that's that. Man, that chapter took way longer than expected. I hope you all loved it and I look forward to your reactions to this one. See you all next chapter. **


	4. 4 - Everything Changes

**Chapter IV – Everything Changes**

* * *

**February 14****th****, 2008 a.t.b.**

**Emperor's Private Study**

It was 6:50 pm, and Emperor Charles zi Britannia was currently waiting to for the arrival of his 5th and favorite wife, Marianne, as well as their oldest child, Lelouch. Yesterday, Marianne had told him that Lelouch had requested to have a private audience with him. When he asked Marianne what Lelouch wanted to discuss with him privately, she replied that all he would say is that it was about a new policy he thought of involving the Numbers. That had peaked Charles's interest, as nobody in the Imperial Court really mentioned the Numbers much except to complain about them, so to hear that Lelouch actually thought of a new policy for them was truly interesting, and so, out of curiosity, he decided to grant Lelouch's request for a private audience with him tomorrow at around 7 in the evening to hear about his new proposal for the Numbers. And so, here he was, waiting for the arrival of both his favorite wife and child so that they could discuss this new policy that Lelouch had thought up. Then, finally, the Emperor's only true friend and Knight of One, Bismarck Waldstein, entered the room and spoke, "Your Majesty, 5th Empress Marianne vi Britannia and 11th Prince Lelouch v Britannia have arrived, as requested." Nodding in recognition, Charles sat up straight in his chair before responding, "Let them enter."

And so, Bismarck opened the door wider before stepping out of the room, allowing Marianne and her son to enter the room before he shut the door afterwards and continued his previous duty of guarding the room. Once the door shut, both Marianne and Lelouch bowed their heads before simultaneously speaking, "Your Majesty, we have come as you have instructed." Raising his hand, Charles spoke, "You may raise your heads." After he spoke, both Marianne and Lelouch raised their heads before Marianne walked over to stand near her husband while Lelouch stayed where he was waiting for his father to address him. "So," Charles began, "your Mother told me you have thought of a new policy for the Numbers, Lelouch. Present it to me." "Yes, Your Majesty," spoke Lelouch respectively, "as you probably already know, during the early years of Britannia's expansion after we were forced from our true homeland of the British Isles, we faced very minor resistance from the Native populations when they were subjugated to the Number-Area System because the low standard of living was of little difference to their already primitive lifestyle. It wasn't until after we started conquering the more civilized and developed lands of Mexico and South America that we started to face heavy resistance and terrorism afterwards." Nodding his head in agreement, Charles replied, "Yes, I do know of this, but I fail to see the point of this." "My point is," responded Lelouch, "the more we conquer modern peoples, the more terrorism we face because their standard of living becomes so much lower than before conquest, and it will only get worse as we continue to expand. The Honorary Britannian System does not help much either, as not many people are willing to join because of all the heavy discrimination they face in Britannian society, which makes it near impossible for them to have a future. However, I thought of a new system that would help solve this problem, the Sub-Britannian System." Intrigued by this, the Emperor told Lelouch to continue, which he did. This system would allow the creation of "Integration Zones" within the Areas, which would recognize those Numbers who apply for entry to be recognized as "Sub-Britannians," where they will receive a number of privileges and rights as well as the promise of having an actual future, so long as they stay in those zones. Those said zones would effectively become vassals for the Empire, as they would attain a number of privileges in exchange for an annual tribute and tax to Britannia. Of course, this would grant the Numbers some liberty, but that is not necessarily a bad thing, so long as it can be used to our advantage, which it would as it would improve the economy of the Empire through the annual taxes and through the increased number of laborers the Sub-Britannians would make up. In addition to improving our economy, it would also lessen the amount of terrorism in Britannia as the Numbers would now have the promise of a better life and would no longer find a need too rebel. Furthermore, I believe it would appease the people of Britannia as well as it would further separate them form the "filthy monkeys" as many like to call them."

Inwardly impressed by his son's proposal and his reasoning for why it should be implemented, Charles looked at his son with an emotionless face before asking in a bored tone, "So, you believe that if I implemented this "Sub-Britannian" System, the Numbers and our people would respectively stop rebelling and whining, and that our economy would improve?" "Yes," Lelouch replied, "I do." "Very well," Charles said, "I will give this little proposal of yours a chance. However, since you thought of this idea, Lelouch, you will be in charge of setting up these "Integration Zones" and transitioning system to becoming "Sub-Britannians," or for putting other people in charge of doing it. Am I clear?" "Yes, Your Majesty, and I have already thought of the right people to be in charge of building the foundations of this system." "Very well, Lelouch, I will announce the start of the new policy tomorrow, and then you will see to its implementation. Afterwards, in a years' time, we will see whether Britannia's economy and terrorism problems improve or not, and whether or not this system will continue or be shut down. Understood?" "Yes, Your Majesty." "Good, you are dismissed." With that, Lelouch gave one final bow to the Emperor before taking his leave out of the Emperor's quarters.

Once their son had left the study, Marianne looked down to her sitting husband and spoke, "Well, that's certainly not what I expected for Lelouch to propose." "Indeed," Charles agreed, "such a revolutionary proposal was certainly the last thing I expected to be brought to me. For a moment, I thought Lelouch would have proposed something much harsher and crueler for the Numbers like the other aristocrats. It seems he has surprised us once again with that big brain of his." "But Darling," said Marianne worriedly, "are you sure such a proposal is a wise course of action? While I am all for improving the lives of the lower classes, such a large step has never been taken since the creation of the Honorary Britannian System." "I know of the risks, Dear, but as the old saying goes, 'nothing ventured nothing gained.' Besides, I have already made my decision, all we can do now is wait and see what happens next." "Alright Charles, I just hope with all my being that Lelouch knows what he's doing." "Me too, Marianne, me too." With that, Marianne exchanged a warm, loving hug with her husband before leaving the study to rejoin Lelouch back home with Nunnally.

* * *

**March 15****th****, 2009 a.t.b.**

**Aries Villa**

Looking back over Lelouch's managing of the new Sub-Britannian System, Marianne cold not help but feel pride in how well he did it and honestly believed it couldn't have been done in any better way. Shortly after Charles made the proclamation of the new Sub-Britannian System and that Lelouch would be in charge of it for the first year, it was no exaggeration to say that everyone in Britannia was taken back by surprise. While everyone was surprised, the reactions varied greatly: the Numbers were mostly overjoyed as they now had the chance of a life with dignity and a future, the commoners were mostly neutral on the subject while some were relieved to be further separated from the Numbers and overjoyed to see them have a better life, and the Aristocrats were mostly against the policy (mainly because they would have less people to throw crap at) while a minority of them sympathized with the Numbers. However, any who opposed the idea kept their mouths shut, as openly disagreeing with the policy would be defying the Emperor, something nobody was excited about doing. And so, after his father made the announcement, Lelouch went straight to work on the creation of the Sub-Britannian System.

First, he called upon certain aristocrats to help construct the Integration Zones he had already designed and oversee the creation of future ones, whose families Marianne quickly came to realize were either allies of hers or were known for being Number-sympathizers. Then, Lelouch set them out to Mexico and South America to begin the establishment and construction of the Integration Zones that he had already thought up by looking over the places in the Areas that either had a high population of Numbers, low population of Britannians, or low populations in general to provide better room for development. For Mexico: he had made the former states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Oaxaca, Jalisco, and Durango the first Integration Zones in Mexico. He also made the regions of North and South Brazil, South Argentina, South Peru, and the entirety of Ecuador south of Quito the first Integration Zones of South America. After establishing them, he left the construction of the Integration Zones' new cities and borders up to the nobles and ensured they got the funds and the resources they needed, which the zones would need with the influx of Sub-Britannians everyone knew would be swarming into the zones. It took well over eleven months for all of the original zones to be established and constructed, but with the nobles overseeing its construction, as well as the resources provided by Lamperouge Industries, Lelouch managed to accomplish the task that his father assigned to him. And, just like Lelouch said, the influx of new laborers and tributary taxes the Sub-Britannian System provided boosted the Britannian economy dramatically, and the rate of terrorism in Britannia dropped exponentially as many of the Numbers (now Sub-Britannians) found that it was better now to work with the system than against it. Also, another beneficial consequence to the new Sub-Britannian System was the number of Honorary Britannians had risen by 40% this year, something that not even Lelouch predicted to happen. Furthermore, the creation of the Sub-Britannian System allowed for more room for Britannians to colonize in the Areas as they were able to build new cities and settle in the regions the new Sub-Britannians abandoned for the Integration Zones. After the year was over, the results alone proved that the Sub-Britannian System was more than beneficial to the Holy Britannian Empire, and so the Emperor decided to permanently integrate it into Britannia's society.

Speaking of Lelouch, Marianne had for the past few years begin to feel something in relation to her son: longing. Specifically, she felt a longing to be able to help her son in life. While she felt immense pride in how much her son had developed and grown up on his own as well cherish all of the love and devotion he showed her, the mother in her could not help but long to be needed by her little boy. And so, she could only be described as ecstatic when he asked her to teach him to pilot a Knightmare Frame, as she was finally needed by her son. It all started back in the 17th of February, when she was practicing in her old Ganymede, which she used to use before the creation of the new 4th Generation Glasglow, and she was watching her children playing on the other side of the gardens through the Ganymede's newly installed Factsphere while she gave her old relic a spin. That is, until she saw two of Charles's other consorts, whose names she could not recall as he had so many, walk up to her children with sneers on their faces before talking. While Marianne could not hear what they were saying, through the zooming in on the scene as well as her keen ability of reading lips, she realized that the two women were insulting and belittling her children. Thus, like any mother would, she decided to give those two women a piece of her mind. And so, she drove her Ganymede straight over to the group before threatening on the speaker that she would squish her two fellow consorts under the Ganymede's foot if they did not leave immediately. Understandably, the two women quickly lifted up their skirts and ran away from the area as fast as they could. Marianne then proceeded to come out of the Ganymede's cockpit and come over to her children and ask if they were okay. Nunnally, as usual, immediately brushed off what happened and forgave those two women for what they did. Lelouch, however, did not give an expression of anger or gratitude as she expected, but one of shock, awe, and excitement as he looked at her Ganymede. Now that caught Marianne's attention, as aside from when he spent time with her, Nunnally, Euphie, Cornelia, or Clovis, Lelouch had never shown excitement over anything. Then, Lelouch looked straight at her with an excited and pleading expression before asking if she could teach him how to pilot a Knightmare. "Please Mother? I want to know how to pilot one of these magnificent machines just like you do." Those were his words. At that moment, Marianne experienced both immense shock and joy as, for the first time in years, Lelouch actually needed her help for something. And so, she all but immediately said yes to his request before picking him up and giving him a tight bear hug while laughing with glee, until she put him down after Lelouch croaked out how he could not breath.

The day after that she had taken Lelouch to meet her closest allies, the Ashfords, the very people who designed the Ganymede prototype that led to the creation of the new Glasglows that Britannia began creating and training its best soldiers in, at their city of Ashfordshire. The introductions had started off well with respective words being exchanged between Ruben Ashford, Marianne, and Lelouch, until a small, blonde-haired girl with blue eyes walked up from behind Ruben and asked if she and Lelouch could play together. This girl was Milly Ashford, granddaughter to Ruben Ashford and was older than Lelouch by almost five months. Looking at each other and coming to a silent agreement, the two adults present looked down at Lelouch for his confirmation and he, seeing no problem with the girl's request nor sensing any ill-intent from her, agreed to her request for them to play together. Squealing in joy, the girl grabbed Lelouch's arm and dashed off with speeds unlike any girl her age towards the gardens so that they could play.

Seeing as the kids would be gone for a while, Marianne decided to tell Ruben of the reason she had come to their city with her son, so that she could have Knightmare Frame piloting sessions with Lelouch. At first, Ruben thought Marianne was joking as she usually tends to do, since despite the fact Lelouch was both an intellectual genius and far ahead of most children his age in terms of physicality he was still that: a child. However, he came to realize that the 5th Empress was _very_ serious about the reason they came to his estate, and how determined she was to see it through, as she specifically told him how this was the first time in years that her boy actually needed her, and she was not going to let him down. Seeing (and slightly startled by) how serious and determined Marianne was, Ruben relented and gave in to Marianne's request/demand. And so, Marianne thanked Ruben and asked him to meet her tomorrow in Pendragon with the Knightmare simulators and two working Glasglows to start Lelouch's training, to which the already-aged man agreed.

Shortly after their conversation ended, the Empress and Earl noticed the two children had returned from playing, with the young Prince looking rather exhausted and mortified while muttering something about "crazy blonde girls." Needless to say, the two adults found the ordeal rather humorous and shared a quick laugh before Marianne took her son, waved the Ashfords goodbye, and returned to their private jet which flew them back to the city of Pendragon.

And so, the following day, Ruben came to the Knights-of-the-Round's training grounds, leaving his daughter in charge during his departure, with the simulators and Glasglows needed to start Lelouch's training. During the first training sessions, it quickly became apparent that Lelouch was a natural prodigy, as inside the Glasglow simulator he scored an above-average standard rating of 76%, something that nobody would suspect from a mere 9-year-old. During those simulations, 65% of his kills came from long range and strategic moves, which seemed to be his strong suit, while the remaining 35% came from close-range combat, where he seemed to have slightly less skill in. Nonetheless, it was an amazing and promising start, and it led to Ruben deeming Lelouch ready for practice with an actual Glasglow, much to Marianne's delight.

Now, while many regarded Marianne vi Britannia as the epitome of an ideal mother, those who knew her best (especially Lelouch) knew that that was the precise opposite of her when it came to physical training where she was completely ruthless and relentless, and Knightmare training was no exception. During her duels with Lelouch, Marianne was brutal, ruthless, and without mercy as she repeatedly kicked Lelouch's artificial butt time and time again, leaving her son an endless an endless score of defeats. She was so brutal that, by the end of it, he was so exhausted that he collapsed on all fours while breathing heavily and sweating like a pig. Thus, Marianne was forced to help Lelouch back to the limousine that would take them home, right after reassuring Ruben to the best of her ability that Lelouch would be fine and all he needed was some rest. While he did fail repeatedly, Marianne was proud of Lelouch for fighting so valiantly and intelligently, his strategies and tactics serving as temporary drawbacks and delays that prolonged their sparring sessions to be much longer than they would have been otherwise. This line of thinking actually got Marianne excited for the future, because if he was this good after just started training, she could only imagine how far he would come in the future.

And so, the days of their training went on and on for the next month inside the training arena for the Knights of the Round as she repeatedly defeated him in their Glasglow sparring sessions again and again. However, these past few days Marianne found herself to actually begin to _struggle_ against her son, something that only the Knight of One, Bismarck Waldstein, could boast about, which was mainly due in fact to his Geass which allowed him to see into the immediate future and therefore foresee her movements. It seemed that Lelouch took his lessons with her to heart as he ingrained her teachings and techniques into his mind and used them to aid him in his duels with her. Those teachings and techniques, combined with his natural long-range skills and intelligent strategies made it how he sometimes came close to defeating her, emphasis on _close to_.

Their little training sessions, however, did not remain unnoticed as they eventually caught the Emperor's attention to the point where he called Marianne to court to discuss it. When she truthfully described what was going on about Lelouch's progress in Knightmare training, it led to a mix of different perspectives concerning the 11th Prince from across the court. To Charles zi Britannia, it was just another reason to be proud of his son, as Lelouch showed he inherited another good trait he inherited from his beloved and affirmed once again that he was the perfect mix of traits between himself and Marianne. To Marianne's biggest fan, Cornelia li Britannia, it was another reason to admire her favorite little brother, as he was now walking down the same path as her idol. For the majority of the aristocrats in the court, however, the opinions on the matter were divided: for those few the prince managed to ally with, it was another sign that they made the right choice in who they chose to support, while for the vast majority of the other nobles, it was proof that the Commoner-Empress's son was becoming an even larger potential threat to heir power, thus gaining more of their ire. But hey, that was court politics, and Marianne did not let it bother her much.

Marianne also noted that throughout the past month, not only had Lelouch's Knightmare piloting improve, but his bond with Milly Ashford had strengthened as well. At first, during their first few playdates together when Ruben would frequently visit, Lelouch regarded her as a barely tolerable, bordering on insane, playmate who he played with on account of Nunnally, Euphie, and Marry loved to play with her. However, as time went on, he began to see her as a genuine friend and grew to care for her just as he did his sisters, his mother, and Clovis, something that Marianne was truly happy about as Lelouch finally made a friend that he wasn't related to.

Such thoughts were then pushed to the back of Marianne's mind, as she was walking towards Cornelia to dismiss her and the rest of security for her secret meeting with V.V. She had already dismissed all of her servants from the Villa, now all that remained were her guards. Cornelia, seeing her idol and superior, gave a quick salute before saying, "How can I help you, My Lady?" Smiling at her, Marianne responded, "I need you to dismiss yourself and the rest of security from the Villa as I need to have a _very_ private talk with somebody." Shocked, Cornelia spoke with confusion and slight concern, "B-But Lady Marianne, its my duty as your chief of security to make sure you are safe, and who is this person who is so important that you need to be alone with them?" "That's classified information, I'm sorry Cornelia. However, what I said wasn't a suggestion, it was an order as your superior." Slightly taken aback by her rather commanding tone and seriousness, Cornelia took on a more disciplined tone before responding, "As you wish, My Lady. It shall be done." And so, Cornelia went on to dismiss all of the security present, and once the last guard went through the main doors of the Aries Villa, Marianne called V.V. before heading down to the main hallway to meet with him.

* * *

**Aries Villa Gardens**

Lelouch was currently sitting in the Aries Villa's gardens, reading a book called "Britannia's Wars and Conquests," and thinking over all that has recently happened in his life. For one, Lamperouge Industries had grown to where it soled 55% of all Britannia's commercial products, ran 35% of all medical institutions and hospitals in the empire, and produced 43% of the army's technologies and equipment. In fact, now there was not one city or Area in the Holy Britannian Empire that did not have one factory, pharmacy, restaurant, laboratory, hospital, store, and/or manufacturing plant from L.I. within it. Also, he had hired his mother's cousin, Adam DeCobray Lamperouge, as the new Chief Operations Officer (COO) for his corporation, who was a former commander in the Britannian Military before he retired from the army when an explosion permanently scarred his face during battle against terrorists. Lelouch found his mother's cousin to be, frankly, a smaller reflection of himself, as he was cold, calculating, strong, extremely intelligent, and above all, ruthless. However, just like Lelouch, Adam proved to be fiercely loyal to those he was close to and, more importantly, proved to be loyal to Lelouch above all else.

Furthermore, Lelouch had managed to infiltrate not only the empire's economy, but its political field as well, as he managed to acquire quite a few nobles from across the empire, even some within the Imperial Court, into an alliance with him. Of the aristocrats who chose to ally with him, most of them were minor lords and ladies, supporters of his mother, or those who sympathized with the Numbers and appreciated the Sub-Britannian System that he proposed and convinced the Emperor to pass, all of which he made sure to establish strong ties with as in the competition for the Imperial Throne, every little bit helps. In fact, some of the ties he established with the aristocrats allied with him were so strong that he managed to convince some of them to even let Lamperouge Industries purchase their companies, which began to skyrocket under the Prince's new management, with his allies still running their respective companies under his leadership.

However, the biggest change of all would probably have to be his recent training courses in Knightmare piloting, which he undertook under his mother's tutelage. When he first started his piloting sessions, he quickly learned that his mother was just as ruthless in her Knightmare training as she was in her physical training, and he found himself being utterly exhausted and worn out during the end of each of the early sessions. However, as time went on, and his training and skills improved, Lelouch found himself being able to hold his own against his mother for a while, which is a feat in itself, and now believed himself to be military-grade at piloting Knightmares.

All in all, everything he had accomplished had further cemented his position in power which helped secure the safety of his mother and Nunnally. Speaking of which, he had not seen his mother nor his sister that much since this morning and it began to worry him. Call him paranoid, but something in the back of his head was telling him to be prepared because something big was going to happen. Such thoughts were what were going through his head when he spotted something that really got him confused: Cornelia was walking towards him without his mother leading her. After seeing this, Lelouch stood up and walked over to where his older half-sister was to ask her what was going on. "Cornelia," he asked, "what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be my mother's side as the head of her guards?" "Well," Cornelia explained, "you see, Lelouch, the reason I'm not with her is-" But before she could finish, the entirety of the Aries Villa was alarmed at the sound of repetitive gunfire and shattering glass being echoed throughout the area. Quickly realizing where it was coming from, and fearing for his mother's and Nunnally's lived, Lelouch darted straight towards the Aries Villa all while ignoring Cornelia's protest of him going towards the gunfire.

* * *

**Aries Villa Main Hall**

Atop of the stairway that led down to he main hallway of the Aries Villa, Lelouch stood there, Cornelia and two other guards at his side, staring in morbid terror at the sight below him. At the middle section of the stairway were the bodies of two dead servants with bullet holes throughout their corpses, and at the bottom of the stairway was the corpse of his mother, filled with bullet holes, holding the small figure of his sister Nunnally, who had bullet holes all across her legs and a look of pure shock and trauma on her face. "Mother! Nunnally!" That was what Lelouch shouted as he ran down the stairway towards the bodies of the two people he held most dear in this world. However, before he could make it halfway down the stairs, he was grabbed from behind and held back by Cornelia. "Cornelia, let me go! I need to-!" "No Lelouch, its not safe here. Guards! Get down there and help your Princess and Empress!" Immediately after she said that, the guards scrambled down to the hallway before one of them slowly lifted Marianne's arms while the other gently lifted Nunnally in his arms and ran out to get her to the Imperial Palace's medical ward. Whilst that guard was doing that, the other one checked Marianne's body for any sign of life, before looking up at Cornelia and Lelouch before sadly shaking his head.

Seeing the man's actions, Lelouch's eyes widened before desperately crying, "no! You're lying! She can't be dead!" Cornelia, feeling completely broken at both the sight of her idol's corpse and her little brother's desperate refusal to face the truth, only continued to hold him close to her before barely managing to speak her next words: "Lelouch, she's gone." "No! Mother! MOTHER!" Cornelia just held her brother tighter as he cried and mourned his mother's death, his screams and sobs echoing across the walls for the entire Villa to hear.

* * *

**March 16****th****, 2009 a.t.b.**

**Imperial Family Cemetery**

It was his mother's funeral, and like any funeral for a member of the royal family, be they the emperor's child or consort, it was grand and filled with a massive crowd of people who all wore somber and depressed looks on their faces. However, Lelouch read he thoughts going through their minds and realized that most of them weren't sad at all and were rather _glad_ that the "Commoner-Empress" was dead, with only a few feeling actual remorse at Marianne's death, namely Cornelia, Euphemia, Marrybell, Julia, Clovis, Laila, and their respective mothers. Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly depending on who you asked, the Emperor did not show up to the funeral to his supposed favorite wife.

After the ceremony ended and Marianne's body was buried, everyone began to file out until only Lelouch was left. He stayed behind before walking towards his mother's tombstone, kneeling down with eyes full of rage and hatred not found in most boys his age, and speaking. "I swear Mother," he stated, "I'll find the ones who did this to you and I'll make them _pay_." "Is that so?" Shocked, Lelouch looked up and immediately calmed down when he saw that it was C.C., his only friend he wasn't related to besides Milly. "Oh, hello C.C." "Hello, Lelouch, I'm sorry your mother's gone, while I cannot honestly say that we were true friends, she was a valued acquaintance of mine, so I too am unhappy in her passing." After she said that, there was a moment of silence with neither of them saying anything until Lelouch broke that silence. "C.C.," spoke Lelouch, "while I do appreciate you coming here to my mother's funeral, something tells me that there is another reason you're here besides to pay your respects." "You're right," C.C. replied, "I also came here to tell you goodbye." At this, Lelouch's eyes widened slightly. "Goodbye?" "Yes, you see your mother had a contract with me in that I gave her a certain something in exchange that she would grant my wish. However, with her passing, I no longer have a purpose for staying here. Not only that, but whoever killed your mother is probably out for me as well, so I have to leave or risk endangering you by staying in your presence." Lelouch's eyes looked downcast as he lowered his head and looked at the ground. "I understand," he said lowly and with a bit of sadness. "However," C.C. spoke again, "before I leave, I would like to give you something." At that, Lelouch looked back up at her and asked her with confusion, "Really, what is it?" "Power, power that will help you to both get the revenge you seek for your mother's death and help you to prevent something like this from happening again. Will you accept this offer?" After she finished speaking, Lelouch took a moment to think about what she said and contemplated what to do.

Finally, after coming to a decision, Lelouch looked up at C.C. with a look of determination on his face before responding, "Yes, if it helps me to find out who killed my mother and protect those precious to me who remain, then I gladly accept your offer." Smiling slightly at his response, C.C. spoke to Lelouch again. "Give me your hand." Doing as instructed, Lelouch held out his hand which C.C. took in hers, before he found himself surrounded by flashing images, some of himself, some of his family, one of several young women wearing ancient, priestess-like attire and bird sigils on their heads, but the image that stood out the most to him was one of a giant planet hovering over Earth with the same bird sigil on it as on the women in the previous vision. _'So you desire the power to help achieve your goals?'_ Lelouch became shocked to hear C.C.'s voice apparently echoing everywhere at once, before seeing flashed of her everywhere, and then a new image of two different planets, one more gear-like in appearance and the other more web-like in appearance, hovering above and below each other. _'I propose a deal. In exchange for this power, you must agree to make my one wish come true. Accept this contract and you accept its conditions. While living in the world of humans, you will live unlike any other. A different providence, a different time, a different life. The Power of the King will condemn you to a life of solitude. Are you prepared for this?'_ Lelouch, right after snapping out of his "shock and awe" state of mind, resolved himself before proclaiming: _'Yes! I hereby accept the terms of your contract!'_ Immediately after he said that, Lelouch was brought back to the real world and felt a great power surging through his left eye. He did not know why, but he knew exactly what that power did. Seeing as it was al done, C.C. got up, smiled down at Lelouch, and said her passing words, "May you use your new power wisely, until we meet again, and you fulfill my wish." And with that, C.C. left, went over to her luggage bag, and left to leave the capitol and Britannia itself. Seeing as the little ordeal he had with C.C. was over, Lelouch said a few more passing words to his mother's grave before heading back to the limousine that would drive him to the Aries Villa.

* * *

**March 17****th****, 2009 a.t.b.**

**Aries Villa, Lelouch's Chambers**

Lelouch was currently sitting in his room typing away on his laptop the online paperwork presented to him from the Headquarters of Lamperouge Industries. Ever since his mother died, this had been what he did with his life: doing extra work, taking extra precaution, shutting himself out from the world, and frequently visiting Nunnally as she slowly recovered from her condition. And seeing Nunnally as she was in that hospital, as a frail little thing covered in bandages and with an oxygen mask on her face as she slept caused Lelouch more pain than going to his mother's funeral. His dear sister, who had always been a hyper, energetic child who clung to him and practically radiated kindness, now looked like a fragile, delicate little doll wo would easily shatter like glass. He had learned from the doctor that his little Nunnally had suffered from extreme nerve damage to her legs and would probably never walk again. And if that wasn't horrible enough, the doctor also said that she seemed to suffer from post-traumatic stress that has left her unable to open her eyes, and that the only possible cure for it was time. That nearly shattered his heart, his little sister, who always ran around laughing the sweetest laugh and looked at him with the purest of violet eyes, now was not only crippled but could not even open his eyes.

While most children would have thrown a tantrum or shut themselves out and ignore everything else, Lelouch devoted himself to gaining more power after his mother died and he heard the news of Nunnally's condition. After all, he still had Nunnally in his life, and if he did not stay focused and strong, he could only imagine what the vultures would do to his precious little sister.

And so, here he was, doing his job with full diligence, until he heard a knock on his door. "What is it?" After Lelouch asked that question, he heard the voice of his head butler and former drill instructor of his deceased mother at the West Point Military Academy, Sebas Tien. "Your Highness, there is a man named Jeremiah Gottwald waiting outside the Aries Villa's entrance hall. He says that he must speak with you no matter what." At this, Lelouch thought over what to do. He had known Jeremiah Gottwald since he was little, well littler, as one of the Royal Guards assigned to the Aries Villa. The man was, to put it bluntly, loyal to his mother to the point that it was bordering on fanatical. It may have surprised him, but he guessed that he was okay as he never sensed any negative feeling or thoughts from him towards his mother, his sister, or himself. After giving it a long, hard thought, Lelouch came to a decision. "Sebas." "Yes, Your Highness?" "Let Jeremiah Gottwald in to meet with me."

* * *

**Entrance Hallway of the Aries Villa**

Jeremiah Gottwald was currently pacing back in forth in the entrance hall of his deceased Empress's home, where the servants of the Villa told him to wait until the 11th Prince decided what to do with him. He looked around and noticed that entirety of the Aries Villa had already been repaired in the mere two days since the shootout that claimed his Empress Marianne's life, and that there was only half the original amount of royal guards present in the vicinity, the half that His Highness himself had hired. However, that did not bother him, as he knew that the Royal Guards present in the Aries Villa were great warriors all to themselves, as were three quarters of the servants working in the Villa.

As he continued to look over the Aries Villa, he saw the multiple paintings and portraits that hung over the walls until his eyes stumbled upon one particular painting in the center of the hallway, a painting of a sitting Marianne in a blue dress with her two children on either side of her, with all three wearing smiles on their faces. And that particular painting brought about another wave of grief and guilt in Jeremiah's heart as it reminded him of his greatest regret in life: his failure to protect his goddess when she needed him.

However, before he could truly wallow in the despair of his failure, Jeremiah heard footsteps coming closer to him and looked up to see a man with grey hair, a beard, and butler attire. He knew this man, as it was Sebas Tien, the former drill instructor for both Marianne vi Britannia as well as himself in his time at West Point, also the new head butler of the Aries Villa. Then, after getting within six feet of Jeremiah, Sebas inclined his head ever-so-slightly before speaking. "His Highness will see you now, Sir Gottwald." The young knight then began to follow his former drill instructor up the stairs and down the long hallway to where the son of his goddess, Lelouch vi Britannia, waited to see him. After a moment of silent walking, Jeremiah broke that silence and spoke to his former trainer. "So how is it, Sebas, sir? Being the new head butler of the Aries Villa?" In response to this question, Sebas let the faintest trace of a smile make its way across his lips before responding, "It is both troublesome and a great honor at the same time. However, I must admit I miss my former career of training the next generation of soldiers for Britannia." Jeremiah smiled at this, before responding. "Yes, you taught not only Marianne vi Britannia, but myself as well, something that I am eternally grateful for as it led me to become the soldier I am today." At this, Sebas smirked. "I specifically remember beating that Purist nonsense right out of you as well as those two underclassmen friends of yours, Villetta Nu and Kewell Soresi." Jeremiah chuckled nervously at this, as he clearly remembers that as well. "Yes, that was a rather… memorable experience." Chuckling lightly at his former trainee's response, Sebas then took on a more serious face before he spoke to Jeremiah once more. "Jeremiah, while I am glad to see you again, I must ask what is your reason for being here? What could you possibly be seeking in this meeting with His Highness?" Jeremiah's face then turned solemn before he answered. "Atonement."

Before Sebas Tien could ask as to what he meant, he saw that they were nearing the doors to Lelouch vi Britannia's chambers. And so, he stopped the two of them, knocked on the door, and heard the voice of his prince. "Enter."

* * *

**Aries Villa, Lelouch's Chambers**

After he gave the person who knocked permission to enter, he saw the door open and two people standing near the entrance to his chambers: Jeremiah Gottwald and Sebas Tien. Then, Sebas lowered his head and but his right hand on heart before speaking. "Your Highness, Sir Jeremiah Gottwald had been brought to speak with you as per your instructions." Nodding his head in acknowledgement, Lelouch looked at his head butler before speaking: "Thank you, Sebas, you may leave us." Following his prince's orders, Sebas ushered Jeremiah inside the room before stepping out and closing the door behind him, leaving the Prince and the Knight alone together.

"So," began Lelouch, "Jeremiah Gottwald, to what do I owe this visit?" Steeling himself, Jeremiah replied with a respectful tone, "Your Highness, the reason why I asked for an audience with you is in regards to your mother's murder-" "If its about why you were not there," interrupted Lelouch, "you don't have to explain yourself as I already know why." Jeremiah gave a surprised look to which Lelouch explained: "Sebas already told me. He told me that my mother ordered all guards and servants to leave the Villa under the orders of someone she was supposed to have a private meeting with. So, unless your reason for being here is to apologize for not protecting her or explain your actions than you have no need if its the latter, and you would be wasting your breath if it's the former." Looking at Lelouch with eyes full of both sorrow and determination, Jeremiah spoke his reason for being here. "No, I did not come here to explain why I was not there, nor have I come here to apologize for no apology can make right what I did. It may have been your mother who ordered me to leave the premise along with the other Royal Guards, but still, the fact is that it was my duty to protect her and I failed. I am not here seeking to give an apology for my failure, Your Highness, I am here to ask for the chance to atone for my failure to protect your mother." At this, Lelouch's eyes widened slightly before he steeled his expression and asked, "Atonement?" "Yes, whatever I can to atone for letting your mother die, I will do it. Whatever the task, whatever it may be, I will fulfill it! Even if you ask me to take my own life, Your Highness, I will do it without question as I do not deserve to live after I let your mother die!" Sensing no lies or ulterior thoughts from Jeremiah, Lelouch decided to give his answer. Thus, he went over to a nearby drawer, pulled out a knife, and walked back over to Jeremiah. "So," Lelouch said with a testing tone, "if I wanted you to die, you would let me, right now, without stopping me." Immediately after Lelouch asked that, Jeremiah knelt down and exposed his neck for Lelouch to slit his throat if he wished. "If that is what it takes," answered Jeremiah with devotion in his voice, "if sacrificing my life is what you wish, if that is how you wish I atone, then so be it." After he said that, Lelouch hooked his knife-arm ready to strike, and Jeremiah closed his eyes as he awaited his fate. However, a thud on the ground made him open his eyes to see the knife embedded in the floor in front of him, causing him to look up at his prince in confusion. "W-What…" he muttered. However, before he could voice his confusion on the matter, Lelouch began to speak. "To die or those important to you, is a great sacrifice. To _live_ for those important to you, is an even greater sacrifice. I choose to live for those important to me, what do you choose Sir Gottwald?" Realizing what was going on, Jeremiah smiled in gratitude before lowering his head and placing his right hand on his heart. "Your Highness, I choose to live as well." "Then rise Jeremiah," which he did, "and atone for your failure by living for me, as my new Royal Knight." At that, Jeremiah's eyes widened in shock before he spoke. "B-But Your Highness, I am unworthy of such an honor." At his protests, Lelouch looked at him straight in his eyes before speaking. "Jeremiah Gottwald, for as long as I have known you, especially today, you have shown me three qualities I value greatly: loyalty, devotion, and honor. I can ask for no more than that in my personal guard, that is why I have chosen you as my new Royal Knight, as I know of no one else more worthy for the task." After listening to all his prince had to say, Jeremiah began to cry tears of gratitude and joy before he kneeled down to the ground once more. "Thank you, Your Highness. I swear, on my very life itself, to serve you faithfully and fully as your Royal Knight."

And at that very moment, the two heard a knock on the door, to which Lelouch replied "Enter." As soon as Lelouch said that, the doors opened to reveal Sebas with a serious expression on his face, before he bowed his head and spoke. "Forgive me, Your Highness, but the hospital called, your sister, Princess Nunnally is about to wake up." Immediately after he said that, Lelouch stood up and said, "Sebas, call the limousine driver. Tell him I need to be taken to the hospital immediately. Jeremiah you will come with me." Standing up and wiping away his tears, Jeremiah saluted and spoke. "Yes, Your Highness!"

* * *

**Pendragon Hospital**

Lelouch quickly made his way through the hallways of the hospital as he headed for his sister's room with Jeremiah following close behind him. As he made his way passed all the rooms in his way, Lelouch's mind was in overdrive with emotions. His little sister, Nunnally, was awake, she was awake and waiting for him and he wanted to see her more than anything. Finally, after turning the final corner, he found himself in front of the door to his sister's room. "Jeremiah," Lelouch said in a serious tone, "whilst I am in there, I want you to stay out here and keep watch." Jeremiah wanted nothing more than to see the daughter of his fallen goddess, but he was loyal and devoted to Prince Lelouch first and foremost, and so he immediately said yes to his prince's command.

Seeing as Jeremiah was going to wait outside, Lelouch thanked him before entering inside to the sight of three little girls inside: Nunnally, Euphemia, and Marrybell. His two half-sisters looked at him with shock as they did not expect him for a while longer, but that shock quickly turn to sadness as they heard of the condition of his sister who was lying right next to them. "Lulu…" "Lelouch…"

At the sound of her brother's name and nickname, Nunnally quickly began looking around the room with a nervous expression as she searched for her big brother. She looked well, if a little pail and thinner than usual, but her legs remained unmoving and her eyelids shut. "B-Big brother?" Her voice was raspy, weak, and full of fear. Immediately after hearing his little sister's voice, Lelouch began slowly making his way towards her bed, each step feeling heavier than the last. "Nunnally…," he whispered, with Euphemia and Marrybell besides him. "I-I can't see you." She was panicking and trembling slightly. "I can't see Euphie or Marry either, and I can't feel my legs… brother?" He immediately put his arms around her in a protective yet gentle fashion as he did not want to hurt the poor girl. "Shh…," he said to her in an attempt to calm her down, "its okay, I'm right here." She was crying now, and she wrapped her arms around him desperately. She most likely didn't grasp the whole reality of what was going on, but she knew three things: she was crippled, she was blind, and her mother was dead. And so, she wailed and cried as she held onto the thing she loved most: her big brother, all that she had left.

Sometime during this period, Euphemia and Marrybell joined them, each crying almost as hard as Nunnally. He comforted all three of them, and while doing so, resolved himself.

'Never again,' he vowed in his head. Never again did he want to see his sisters cry. Never again would he allow something like this to happen. By the grace of whatever deities there were, he would make a better, gentler world where his little sisters could live safe and happy. Even if he had to burn the current world to the ground.

* * *

**A/N: Well that's the end of this chapter. In regards to my two OCs, Adam DeCobray Lamperouge and Sebas Tien, they are inspired from the Adam DeCobray from "G.I. Joe: Renegades" and Sebas Tien from the anime "Overlord." Expect more OCs in future chapters that are inspired by other sources. That's all, goodbye for now.**


	5. 5 - The Demon's First Crusade Part 1

**Chapter V – The Demon's First Crusade Part I**

* * *

**March 22****nd****, 2009 a.t.b.**

**Aries Villa Gardens**

Euphemia was currently weaving flowers together with Nunnally and Marrybell in the gardens of the Aries Villa, with Jeremiah watching them from nearby, as she thought over everything that had happened in the past week. It was a horrible tragedy for her when her favorite consort of her father (besides her mother) was murdered a week ago and her favorite little sister, Nunnally, was left blinded and crippled. However, the biggest tragedy of all was how it affected her favorite brother, Lelouch. Following his mother's death, Lelouch had begun to shut himself out more and more from the world. He would still come out to play with herself, Marry, and Nunnally whenever they asked, but now that only ever happened if they asked, and he no longer radiated the same happiness he usually did when he was around them, instead showing a shallower, dimmer happiness that showed that barely covered the pain that was hidden beneath his smiles. And that was what hurt Euphemia the most: her big brother was hurting and there was nothing she could do to help him, which was ironic considering that he was usually the one helping her.

Lelouch, ever since she met him, she had been shocked and awed by his level of intelligence and maturity that was not found in most children his age. Not only was he a born prodigy, but he was a very caring and protective person towards her, rivaling that of her own older sister, Cornelia. While he was cold and distant towards most people in the Imperial Palace, even fellow members of their family, he was always nothing but kind and gentle towards herself and Marry. He had always smiled and played with her when she came to the Villa, and he was always protective towards her against her half-siblings or other aristocrats who viewed her kindness and desire to help others as weakness, something she was always grateful for. However, despite all he had done for her in her life, there was nothing she could do for him now when he needed her the most. She may be able to make him happy for a while, but she could never get rid of his pain.

Nunnally, however, was dealing with her problems in the opposite way that Lelouch was: while he shut himself away from the rest of the world, Nunnally became even more clingy of her loved ones and desperate for their attention, especially from her big brother. It seemed that the loss of her mother, her sight, and her legs helped her to feel more appreciation for her loved ones and wanted to spend as much time with them as possible, as if she feared that they could be taken away from her at any moment. Both Nunnally and Lelouch were hurting, but Nunnally was at least able to still be open to others and try to move on. And so, Euphemia would do all she could to help them, which she was trying to do now as she weaved with Nunnally and Marry.

"What are you making Nunnally?" Euphemia asked the little girl. At Euphie's question, Nunnally looked in the direction where she heard her half-sister's voice and stopped weaving the flowers in her creation, which was in a rather sloppy arrangement compared to her past creations as she now had to feel the flowers to know there arrangement instead of just seeing and knowing what to do. "A crown," she answered her big sister with the same beautiful smile she had adopted on her face since the day after she woke up in the hospital. Her response shocked Euphemia as they barely ever made crowns together, instead usually going for the easier-to-make bracelets and necklaces that they would give to each other or sometimes coerce Lelouch into wearing. "That's very nice, Nunnally." She smiled as she said that, despite the fact that Nunnally couldn't see it, for despite all that she went through, Nunnally could still give such an innocent and beautiful smile.

Euphemia then turned over to Marrybell and proceeded to ask her the same thing that she asked Nunnally, to which she replied, "a ring." That caused Euphemia to feel a little befuddled as out of all the creations they had ever woven, a ring was something none of them had ever made before. "Really," she asked, "a ring? We've never woven one of those before." To her half-sister's question, Marrybell simply smiled before replying: "True, but there's always a first time for everything." Agreeing with Marrybell's response, Euphemia simply smiled and nodded before returning to weave her own creation, which was a necklace.

A few minutes later, the three heard footsteps approaching from behind them and turned around to see (except for Nunnally) the sight of their brother Lelouch with the same smile he always had in their presence. "Hello girls," he said, "did you miss me?" Hearing the sound of their brother's voice, the three girls immediately peaked up in happiness before they all screamed simultaneously. "Lelouch!" "Lulu!" "Big brother!" Chucking at his sisters' simultaneous screams of happiness, Lelouch shook his head with an amused smile on his face. "It's good to see you too, girls. I trust that Jeremiah took good care of you all while I was gone." "Yup," replied Euphemia, "Jeremiah took extra care of us while you were gone." "I see, thank you Jeremiah." Smiling at his prince's thanks, Jeremiah bowed his head before replying. "There is no need to thank me, Your Highness, I was simply doing my sworn duty as your Knight." Nodding in acknowledgement to Jeremiah, Lelouch looked at the trio of sisters in front of him, Lelouch noticed that a certain member of their usual party was not present at the moment. Deciding to voice his confusion, Lelouch looked over to Marrybell and asked, "Where's Julia?" "Back home," Marrybell responded, "with Mother. She couldn't come today because she's currently taking her lessons with the instructors, so I had to come alone." "I see," Lelouch said with a look of understanding, "I'm sure she'll do great." "Thank you, Lelouch."

Lelouch then went to sit down next to his sisters and sat between all three of them. After getting comfortable in the grass and shutting off his mental reading sense as he would never intrude in his beloved sisters' minds, Lelouch took notice of the piles of flowers next to each of the girls as well as the creations they were currently working on in their hands. He smiled at this, as they used to always weave different accessories in the past before pleading for him to try them on. Never being one to deny his little sisters of what they wanted, he would always concede and let them decorate him with their creations no matter how silly he secretly thought they were. Wondering as to what they were currently making, Lelouch decided to do the most logical thing and just ask them. "So, what exactly are you all weaving?" They all answered him simultaneously. "It's a secret." 'I see,' Lelouch thought to himself. The fact that they didn't tell him meant that it was a surprise for him and that he was going to have to wear whatever it was they were making. However, whatever they were he would wear them without complaint as it would make them happy, and the last thing he ever wanted was to see was his dear sisters sad or worse.

Feeling a slight tug on his sleeve, Lelouch looked over to see Nunnally lightly pulling on his shirt with that ever-lovely smile on her face. "Big Brother," she said, "I'm finished." Lelouch looked down at the girl's other arm to see her holding a large hoop of weaved flowers that was too large to be a bracelet and too small to be a necklace. "What is it?" He asked in confusion. "You'll see," Nunnally said, "please come closer." Never being one to deny his cute little Nunnally, Lelouch leaned in closer and put her hand on his shoulder so she knew where he was. Felling around with her hand, Nunnally deduced that her hand was on her brother's shoulder, and she then proceeded to move her hand towards her brother's face and gave it a few experimental touches to realize where everything was. After deducing the overall shape of Lelouch's face, Nunnally proceeded to put her creation in both of her hands before gently placing it atop of Lelouch's head. Lelouch then suddenly realized what it was that his sister created. "A crown?" "Yes," Nunnally replied to his question, "a perfect crown for a perfect prince." Smiling with gratitude, Lelouch proceeded to thank Nunnally before gently lifting up the giggling girl and sat her in his lap while hugging her, to which she reciprocated and wrapped her arms around her big brother. "Lelouch," he heard Marry call before turning to her, "I'm finished with mine as well." Looking down at the girl's hands, he saw a small ring made of tightly-weaved flowers resting in her left palm. "A ring?" He asked her with surprise. "You've never made one of these before, Marry." Smiling at her older half-brother, Marrybell replied to his statement. "I know, but there's a first time for everything and I wanted to make something special for you this time." Happy and grateful at what Marry said, Lelouch stuck out his left hand, allowing Marry to put her flowery creation on his ring finger. "There," Marry said, "a perfect fit." "Thank you Marry." "You're welcome, Lelouch." Before Lelouch could take a moment to really study his new ring, he was interrupted from his thoughts by Euphie who proceeded to present her creation to him, which turned out to be another necklace like the ones she, Marry, and Nunnally usually made. "I know its just another necklace," said Euphemia who looked a little downcast, "but I hope you like it." Seeing Euphemia's downcast expression, Lelouch immediately took the necklace from her hand into his own and then put it around his neck. "I love it Euphie," he said with a grateful and reassuring smile, "it doesn't matter if its another necklace, what matters is the thought that you put into it. And you obviously put a lot of thought into this and that means more to me than anything else." Feeling immensely touched by what he said, Euphemia kissed his cheek and thanked him repeatedly in a quick, excited manner. Lelouch smiled contently at this, being immensely grateful that fate decided not to take his sisters away from him like it did his mother.

However, his smile disappeared as he witnessed his older half-sister, Cornelia, walk over to them with a grim look on her face, causing him to feel concern over what was wrong. When Cornelia came up to be right next to him and his other sisters, Lelouch decided to greet her. "Hello Cornelia," he said in a fake happy tone so as to not worry his little sisters. "Hello Lelouch," Cornelia returned in a sad tone, "I am afraid that I bring sad news in regards to your mother." At this, Lelouch became even more concerned as he wondered what she could possible mean by that. "What is it Cornelia?" "Lelouch, I would prefer if we spoke about this in private." She then looked at their three sisters to emphasize her point. "Very well. Jeremiah!" At the call of his name, Jeremiah addressed his prince with a respectful tone. "Yes, Your Highness?" "Please escort my younger sisters inside the Aries Villa?" At first, his three sisters begged to stay with him, but eventually, with a lot of persuasion from Lelouch, they relented as Euphemia and Marry followed Jeremiah as he pushed Nunnally in her wheelchair to the Aries Villa household. Once they were out of earshot, Lelouch directed his attention towards Cornelia once more. "Alright, they're gone. Now please tell me what news you have in regard to my mother, Cornelia." "It's about the investigation of her death," Cornelia said with a downcast expression, "Father has just called it off." At this revelation, Lelouch felt several different emotions stirring inside him: shock, confusion, rage, etc. Lelouch may not have loved his father, but he deeply respected the man and knew that he genuinely cared about his mother, and so he wondered why he would call off the investigation of her murder in just a week. 'Could it be that somehow Father was involved in this,' Lelouch wondered in his thoughts, 'or that whoever did it is dangerous enough to scare even him?' Lelouch did not know what the answer was, but he fully intended to get the answers for himself.

* * *

**March 23****rd****, 2009 a.t.b.**

**Imperial Throne Room**

It had been a day since Cornelia gave him the news involving the investigation of his mother's murder, and Lelouch was currently standing in front of the large double doors that led into the Imperial Throne Room. After he received the news, he tried to schedule a private audience with his father to discuss the matter, to which he was denied. Thus, he instead scheduled a meeting with him in the Imperial Court to get some answers, to which he was accepted. And so, here he was outside the Imperial Throne Room, in the same attire he was in during his Foundation Day, waiting for those massive doors to open in order to talk with his father, the Emperor, and get the answers he sought.

"**Announcing Lelouch vi Britannia, 11****th**** Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire and 17****th**** in line for the Imperial Throne!"** An announcer's voice rang out from inside the Imperial Throne Room, before the double doors opened up to let Lelouch enter. Immediately after the two large doors opened, Lelouch made his way into the grand hall that housed both the Imperial Throne and the Imperial Court with a steeled, neutral look on his face that was unreadable. As he made his way towards the Imperial Throne where the Emperor sat, Lelouch noticed that everyone in the Imperial Court were keeping their mouths shut without letting out a whisper, which he sensed in their minds was because they remembered what had happened on his Foundation Day and did not want to end up like that unlucky aristocrat whose life he ended.

Eventually, Lelouch came near the steps leading up to the Imperial Throne where the Emperor, with his ever bored and uncaring face, sat, giving off an aura of raw power and strength. Once he came close enough to the stairs, Lelouch quickly turned off his mind-sensing ability to focus completely on the man in front of him, before kneeling down and addressing the Emperor.

"Hail Your Majesty! My mother is dead!" Lelouch said. "Old news, what of it?" Charles replied in his usually strong and bored tone. Taken aback by what Charles said (but not showing it on his face), Lelouch responded to his question with a respectful tone. "I wish to inquire as to why the investigation of the said ordeal was called off. After all, my mother was the 5th Imperial Consort, the Knight of Six, and conqueror of the last few independent nations of South America. Not to mention that whoever killed her also crippled my sister Nunnally as well, who is of your blood. As such, any attack on them is also an attack on the Imperial Family as a whole, including yourself. With all of these in mind, surely an investigation of her death should have lasted more than a mere week." This made the rest of the Imperial Court feel slightly shocked, as they expected the boy to be throwing a slight tantrum over his mother's death, not to respectfully and logically ask a question. After all, the boy's love for his mother was well-known to be legendary and fierce, so they expected him to be burning with rage and losing his composure, not being respectful and reasonable.

Emperor Charles kept on his neutral, bored expression on his face, but on the inside, he was surprised and slightly impressed by his son's response and reasoning. 'An excellent choice of words,' Charles thought, 'but let's see how you respond to what I'll say next.' "You make a very good point Lelouch and a sound argument. However, the answer to your question is remarkably simple: it is because there really is no point to bother continuing the investigation." He told his son in a strong voice. Confused and taken aback (but not showing it) by what the Emperor said, Lelouch respectfully asked, "I am afraid I do not follow, Your Majesty. Would you please clarify as to why there is no point in further investigation towards who attacked the Aries Villa?" "Its simple," Charles replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "with your mother dead and sister crippled, there is no point in further investigating because I no longer have any use for either of those weaklings." "Those weaklings?" Lelouch asked, with almost unnoticeable traces of shock in his voice. "Yes," Charles replied, "that is what it means to be royalty."

At this, Lelouch lowered his head so nobody could see the angry expression that made its way to his face. At that very moment, all respect he had for the man he called father died and was replaced by feelings of betrayal and unbridled hatred. He wanted nothing more than to revoke his title to the throne and sever ties with this monster and the other parasites he was forced to call his "family," however he stopped himself from doing so because he realized that there was no telling what the Emperor would do to him and Nunnally if he revoked his title. And so, using his immense intellect and cunning, Lelouch quickly thought of something else to say, before he steeled his expression and looked back up to the Emperor and spoke. "In that case," Lelouch spoke with a confident voice, "what will I have to do to prove otherwise?" "I beg your pardon?" The Emperor inquired with a neutral voice that had a hint of curiosity laced in it. "What will I have to do to prove that my mother was not weak nor was my sister?" Lelouch clarified with a voice of determination. "As their blood my actions and deeds reflect on both of them, not just myself. Thus, I humbly ask of Your Majesty for the opportunity to prove that the vi Britannian line is not weak, that me and Nunnally are worthy of being heirs to the throne, and that my mother was worthy of being your consort. Whatever the task may be, I will do it and prove my blood's worth." The people present were taken aback by this statement made by the 11th Prince, as it was the last thing any of them expected to hear, especially from a mere boy, no matter how much of a genius said boy was.

The gathered crowd became even more shocked as their emperor began to give an amused chuckle, one not very loud but just loud enough for everyone present to hear. "How interesting," Charles said with a hint of amusement and interest in his voice, "that certainly is a bold and daring thing to ask, Lelouch. It is just further proof that you are my child. However, if I give you such a task to prove your blood's worth and you fail, you shall prove that the vi Britannian line is not worthy of being royalty. Thus, if you fail, both you and Nunnally will be disinherited. Do you accept this risk?" "Yes," Lelouch said immediately with determination and confidence, "I accept the risk of such an ordeal, and I will not fail. I will prove that the vi Britannian line is worthy of being part of the Imperial Family." "Very well," Charles responded, "in that case, I will grant your request and give you a task to prove your bloodline's strength: Conquer Japan! Do this and you will prove your blood's worth." After the Emperor made his statement, everyone present, including Lelouch, became surprised at what he said. After all, conquest of an entire nation was no easy task, especially for a child (even if said child was a genius like Lelouch), and yet here the Emperor was giving said task to a mere 9-year-old boy. However, Lelouch quickly made up his mind in regards to the Emperor's proposal and gave his answer. "If that is the task that I need to accomplish to prove my bloodline's worth, then I will gladly do so. However, I humbly ask Your Majesty for a private meeting later in order to discuss the circumstances of the task at hand. As I believe what we would discuss would be considered as classified information." "Very well," replied Charles, "I shall grant your request for a private meeting and send someone for when I can have a meeting with you. You are dismissed."

And with that, Lelouch gave another bow before turning around and gracefully making his way out of the Imperial Throne Room, leaving the entire Imperial Court feeling unbelief at what had just transpired. Then Lelouch finally made it out of the hall, the double doors closing behind him, as he made his way out of the Imperial Palace to the limousine that would drive him back home.

* * *

**Emperor's Private Study**

It was 7:42 pm, and Charles was sitting in his own study as he waited for the servant that he sent nearly an hour ago to return with his son, Lelouch vi Britannia, so that they could discuss the strategies and circumstances for which he would invade and hopefully conquer Japan. Thinking back over what happened, Charles would be lying if he said that he was not surprised at the way things went down in the Imperial Throne Room. He had expected, and hoped, that Lelouch would throw a fit and renounce his claim to the throne. That way, he could have good reason to exile both Lelouch and Nunnally to Japan in order to protect them from V.V.'s wrath, just as he and a Marianne-possessed Anya Alstreim had planned.

At first, Marianne did not agree with the plan as she knew that sending them to Japan meant they might die in the future war between Japan and Britannia. She actually wanted to have Charles take V.V.'s Code before letting her kill him slowly and painfully for what he did to her and Nunnally, but Charles told her that he couldn't as V.V. was now the new head of the Geass Directorate and as such could be a threat to Marianne and himself, as well as their children. Once he told her this, however, she began to tear up as she realized that her children were likely to die no matter what. When she finally cried, Charles immediately knelt down and hugged her new tiny body and tried his best to comfort her, as he quickly realized he hated seeing his beloved cry. It was only after he reminded Marianne that after the Ragnarök Connection had been completed they would be reunited with their children and it would be as if their deaths never happened as they would spend all of eternity together in a peaceful, gentle existence, that he managed to calm her down. Eventually, he got his beloved to stop crying and convinced her to let him send their children to Japan as it was their most likely chance for survival.

However, now that option was out the window and Charles could only hope that Lelouch and Nunnally could be spared from V.V. Such thoughts were then pushed to the back of his head when he heard a knock on the door. "Your Majesty," a voice said which he recognized belonged to the Knight of One and his only friend, Bismarck Waldstein, "the servant has returned with 11th Prince Lelouch vi Britannia." "Very well," Charles replied, "send him in and tell the servant he is dismissed." "Yes, Your Majesty!" A few seconds later, Bismarck Waldstein opened the door allowing the short form of his son Lelouch in before walking out and closing the door behind him, leaving Charles alone with his beloved's son. His son then bowed his head before speaking, "Your Majesty, I have come just as you summoned me." Raising his hand, Charles spoke, "You may lift your head." Obeying the Emperor, Lelouch raised his head and awaited to be addressed by the man in front of him. "So," Charles spoke after a moment of silence, "you wished for a private audience with me to discuss how you will conquer Japan. I trust that you have already come up with a few ideas in regards to such a matter?" "Yes, Your Majesty," Lelouch replied in an unnoticeable faked-respective tone, "and one major part of the plan I thought of involves me and Nunnally going to Japan under the official guise of studying abroad and unofficially under the guise of bargaining tools." At this, Charles' interest peaked though he didn't show it. He then motioned for Lelouch to continue, which he did. "In my plan, me and Nunnally will be sent away to live in Japan for the next six months under the guise of political hostages to smooth diplomatic relations with the Sakuradite-rich nation. However, while we are there, I will spend my time gathering information in regards to Japan's military structure and create strategies and tactics to best combat it. While we would still most likely win a war with them without gathering any information at all about their strength and defenses, it is more logical and wiser to know as much about your enemy as possible and lose as few of your men as possible." At this, Charles was inwardly pleased with Lelouch's strategy, as this would allow him and Nunnally to be safe in Japan for some time and allow V.V. to cool off for a while and hopefully let go of his vendetta against Lelouch and Nunnally. This would also allow for Lelouch and Nunnally to have a better chance at survival as they could now return to Britannia before the war and be spared from the carnage. However, there was still one little issue that needed to be addressed first. "You make an interesting proposal Lelouch," Charles said, "however there is the small problem of who would run Lamperouge Industries in your absence, as it has become the most powerful corporation in the empire, and I will not have Britannia suffer an economic depression due to L.I. collapsing from a lack of leadership." "I have already thought about that, Your Majesty," said Lelouch, "and I have decided that, should I be sent to Japan, I would give my late mother's cousin, Adam DeCobray Lamperouge, the temporary position of CEO of the company during my absence until I can return and take back the position." While Charles' face was neutral, on the inside he was smirking with pride as it seemed that his son had everything figured out already. "You must remember Lelouch," Charles warned, "if I should go through with this plan of yours you and Nunnally will be on your own. In order for this plan of yours to be carried out, Britannia must not get involved in any way, so the only protection you will really have is the people you choose to take with you and nothing more." "I understand, Your Majesty, and I am fully prepared to take that risk." After Lelouch said that, silence permeated the room before Charles closed his eyes and gave his response. "Very well then, if you are so confident in this plan of yours than I will allow it to be carried out. Tomorrow, I will announce that you and Nunnally will be sent to Japan under the guise of studying abroad for half a year at the end of the month, and that you will be allowed to take whatever guards or servants you want with you." At this, Lelouch bowed and replied, "Thank you, Your Majesty." "That will be all. Dismissed." And with that, Charles watched as his son gave on last bow before walking out the door on his way out of the Imperial Palace.

* * *

**March 24****th****, 2009 a.t.b.**

**Aries Villa, Lelouch's Chambers**

Lelouch was currently residing in his chambers as he continued to do his daily work as a CEO on his laptop. It had been a day since his meeting with his _father_, and he had no doubt the man was about to make the announcement of him and Nunnally heading for Japan at the 30th of the month, if the announcement had not been made already. Looking over all that occurred since his beloved mother's death, Lelouch thought about all that he had managed to accomplish since that time and he had only one regret: the Ashfords. Specifically, he regretted how they have quickly fallen from grace since his mother's murder. When his mother was killed, it was only a day after the event that the snakes of the aristocracy began to make their move against her supporters and his. However, what they did not expect was for Lelouch to bite back and defend his supporters with greater ferocity. Everything from news propaganda, to revealing dirty secrets, to outright assassinations were used against those that dared to try to scrutinize, disgrace, and/or end his supporters in the empire. Eventually, his late mother's supporters began to see that the best bet for survival was to ally with him just as they did his mother, which almost all of them immediately did when he presented the offer to them, emphasis on "almost." There were some who were either too proud or too gutless to take their chances with aligning with a child, a prodigious child but a child nonetheless, which included the Ashfords. Whilst Ruben Ashford was all for the idea for aligning with him, it was his daughter (Milly's mother) who convinced him not to take the chance as it was a huge gamble, who he eventually conceded to as he was always a man who listened to his family before anyone else, something that Lelouch greatly respected even if he was disappointed. And so, Lelouch thought about his mother's greatest supporters' predicament with regret and sadness, as he loved Milly like a sister and respected Ruben Ashford like a friend and felt terrible for what they and their family were currently going through.

He was then brought out of his thoughts when he heard a knock on his door. "Who is it?" He asked whoever was at the door with a commanding yet respectful tone. "It is me, Your Highness," spoke the voice of his head butler Sebas Tien, revealing it was him at the door, "I have Ruben Ashford on the phone, he says that he wishes to speak to you." 'Well speak of the devil,' Lelouch thought to himself. "Very well, bring me the phone so I may speak to him." "Yes, Your Highness." And so, Sebas entered the chambers of his young master and gave him the phone he had in his hand, before bowing to Lelouch and making his way out of the room for Lelouch to have privacy. "Hello Ruben," Lelouch said in the phone with respect. "_Hello Prince Lelouch,_" spoke the voice of Ruben Ashford on the phone, "_it has been a while since we last spoke, and I'm glad to be speaking with you once again."_ "Me too," Lelouch responded, "however, something tells me you did not call me just to have a nice chat with me." Lelouch then heard Ruben sigh on the other side of the phone before hearing him speak again. "_Perceptive as always, My Prince, the real reason I called was to say goodbye._" Now this caught Lelouch's attention, "Goodbye?" "_Yes, with the death of your mother and the repetitive hounding from the other nobles, my family is on our last ropes and we fear what is next for us. I should have accepted your offer of an alliance and protection when you offered it, but I let my daughter talk me out of it, so for that, I am very sorry. And now, there is nothing I can do as my family has fallen so far from grace and its only a matter of time before our enemies make a move on our lives, so we have no choice but to leave the empire to somewhere else, so I am calling to say goodbye._" Taking in everything that Ruben just said, Lelouch contemplated how he could best help the Ashfords in their time of peril, before he came to a decision. "In that case," Lelouch said on the phone, "I suggest that you take your family and leave for Japan." "_Japan?_" Ruben's voice asked with a hint of confusion. "_Isn't that the nation that you and Nunnally will be headed to in order to study abroad?_" This statement confirmed to Lelouch that his father had already announced that he and Nunnally would be headed to Japan. "Yes," he replied, "but I am suggesting it because its far enough away from your enemies and will grant you time for things to cool off here in the homeland. Also, I want to give you a proposition, a proposition that could restore the Ashford family to glory." "_I'm listening._" "When the time comes, I would like to give you the funds and resources to rebuild Ashford Industries, but in return you must both align yourself with me and let me purchase Ashford Industries to incorporate it into Lamperouge Industries." Silence was held for a few moments as Ruben speculated what to do, before he finally made up his mind. "_You strike a hard bargain; however, I have already seen how the companies you buy prosper even greater than before and the families you align with rise to even greater heights than they did originally. Besides, I have already refused your offer for an alliance once and look where that led my family to. Very well, I accept your proposition._" "Very good, I'm glad that we came to an understanding Ruben." "_Me too. I have to go now to prepare for our 'exile' into Japan. Good day to you, Lelouch._" "Good day to you too, Ruben." And with that, Lelouch hung up the phone and summoned Sebas to return it to where it was, to which the butler complied.

* * *

**March 30****th****, 2009 a.t.b.**

**Pendragon Airport**

The big day had finally come, the day where her little half-siblings Lelouch and Nunnally would be sent away to Japan, and Cornelia could not feel anything more than fear for their lives and sadness for their leaving. For as long as she had known them, Lelouch and Nunnally, the two children of her idol Marianne vi Britannia, had been her favorite little siblings, right after Euphemia of course, and they had always been a joy to be around.

Nunnally had always been like a little angel that shined a light in the dark world that she lived in, with her beautiful little form combined with her almost inhuman level of kindness, generosity, and innocence, she was without a doubt the most loving person that Cornelia had ever known and she always managed to put a smile on her face no matter how bad things currently were. Lelouch, on the other hand, was a fierce and respective boy who was always looking out for those he cared about, including herself and Euphemia, something that she was eternally grateful for and loved him all the more for it. However, this just made her all the more distraught with the current situation they were in, as she was currently with her younger sister Euphemia and many others watching as Lelouch and Nunnally were preparing to enter the plane that would take them to Japan.

Looking around her, Cornelia saw that she was not the only one who was feeling terrible about the situation they were currently witnessing. To her right was one of those who were depressed about the departure of Lelouch and Nunnally: her sixteen-year-old younger half-brother Clovis la Britannia (whose right leg was being clutched by his four-year-old younger full-blooded sister, Laila la Britannia). Growing up, Clovis had always been the closest to Lelouch out of all her half-brothers and they would always have fun together when they could, from panting pictures together, to playing together with little Laila or Nunnally (Clovis's favorite little half-sister), or having chess matches against each other (despite the fact that Clovis always lost to Lelouch). In addition, despite the fact that Clovis was older, Lelouch had always served as a big-brother figure for Clovis, from his great intellect and maturity that made him a role model for Clovis, to the fact that Lelouch had always defended him from their many half-siblings and step-mothers who mocked and belittled Clovis as they claimed his hobbies of art and painting were girlish, weak, and pathetic. And so, it was completely understandable to Cornelia as to why Clovis was currently feeling depressed and keeping his head down and slouching in sadness over the fact that Lelouch and Nunnally were leaving the homeland to study abroad in Japan for the next six months.

To her left, Cornelia saw another person who was feeling immensely depressed at her two little half-siblings' departure: her younger half-sister Marrybell mel Britannia. Throughout all the years that she has known her brother Lelouch, Cornelia like everyone else knew that there were three of their siblings that Lelouch had been closest to: Nunnally, Euphemia, and Marrybell, and the four of them were so close that they were almost inseparable. In fact, they were so close that many times when they were younger Euphemia and Marrybell would cry their little eyes out when their time to play together was over and their mothers had to take them away from Lelouch and Nunnally to return home. Furthermore, just like he did for Clovis, Lelouch would act like a big brother figure for Marrybell and protect her from ridicule and harassment from their other half-siblings, stepmothers, and other aristocrats who would mock Marrybell for her friendship with the heiress of the Zevon family, Oldrin Zevon, due to her family's unusual (by Britannia's standards) matriarchal hierarchy and her mother's supposedly callous and heartless abandonment of her son and Oldrin's twin brother, Orpheus Zevon. However, only she and a few others knew the truth about the circumstances surrounding Olivia Zevon's abandonment of her son and knew that she was forced to by her mother, the former matriarch, as per their family's traditional law surrounding twin children if one of them is a male and the other female in that the male is either removed at an early age or killed, and that she truly regretted giving up her son and grieved for him for many days after she left him to be raised by a commoner family as a mere toddler. Also, a strong bond had grown between Marrybell, Euphemia, and Nunnally from their many years of playing together, their shared love for their brother Lelouch, and Nunnally's pure, kind, and loving nature which could melt even the most cold-hearted people on the planet if she tried. And so, Cornelia could clearly see why Marrybell was sad over the departure of Lelouch and Nunnally to Japan for the next six months just as she and Clovis were, however unlike Clovis she was doing a much better job at masking it as she remained composed and refined despite the great sadness that could be seen in her eyes.

However, the one who was the most depressed about the departure of Lelouch and Nunnally was the one who was standing right next to her: her beloved little sister Euphemia li Britannia. Out of all their half-siblings, Euphie had always been the one closest to Lelouch and Nunnally and had always been the one who spent the most time being with them, playing with and visiting them every chance she got. In fact, her mother, Victoria li Britannia, and her late idol, Marianne vi Britannia, used to joke around questioning if Euphemia had moved in the Aries Villa as she was practically living there given how often she visited. Furthermore, Lelouch was _super_ protective of Euphemia to a point that it bordered along the lines of paranoia, so much so that it surpassed his overprotectiveness for all his other half-siblings and was itself only surpassed by his fierce protectiveness for his little sister Nunnally and his late mother Marianne. This was something she was especially grateful of Lelouch for, as he protected her little Euphie from the rest of their despicable family whenever she was absent doing her job as the head guard of the Aries Villa, as well as physically and/or mentally lash out on said relatives so fiercely that none of them dared to bully Euphemia a second time. She could recall many times during her guard duties at the Aries Villa when she saw her little sister running to Lelouch crying her eyes out and tell him how her half-siblings or step-mothers were mean to her and the fierce anger that was apparent on Lelouch's face after he was done comforting her. The next day she would often find those half-siblings or stepmothers Euphie told Lelouch of either appearing traumatized, bruised, or both, and would never hear of said "family" members ever harassing little Euphie ever again. Without a doubt, Euphemia was the closest one of their family to Lelouch and Nunnally to the point that they loved her like she was their full-blooded sibling. However, that only made this all the more harder on little Euphie than it did on any of her other family as she looked on at Lelouch and Nunnally near the door to the plane to Japan with tear-filled eyes as she attempted to run up to them before Cornelia put a hand on her shoulder to keep her in place. Euphemia then looked up to her with eyes so sad and pure she could drown in them and almost caved in but managed to steer herself and shook her head at her little sister in denial to her notion to going towards their departing siblings, to which she relented.

Hearing an announcer somewhere announcing the departure of Lelouch and Nunnally and the sound of trumpets in honor of her little siblings, Cornelia gave one last sad look towards them as Jeremiah Gottwald in his royal guard attire saluted towards the children as Lelouch strolled a wheelchair-bound, blind Nunnally into the plane with the handful of guards and servants he chose to come with them before it finally took off towards its destination of Tokyo, Japan.

* * *

**April 2****nd****, 2009 a.t.b.**

**Kururugi Shrine, Japan**

It had been precisely one day since they had arrived in Japan, and Lelouch was currently in the process of carrying little Nunnally on his back as he walked up the many, _many_ flights of stairs towards the Kururugi Shrine at the top stairway to meet his new caretakers for the next six months, with his agents and bodyguards walking closely behind him whilst Japanese security stood on every few steps to the side watching as he carried his sister up to the top with his entourage closely behind him. While Lelouch was very physically fit for his age, the amount of stairs he was currently climbing were such a challenge that they would even cause a professional hiker to become exhausted, which he was feeling currently climbing the steps up the mountain before he tripped slightly on one step before regaining his balance and causing Nunnally to wince in fear from the sudden jerk from his moment of imbalance and hold on to Lelouch more tightly in panic. This caused Lelouch to stop walking and do his best to cool Nunnally and reassure her that everything would be alright until he felt her relax on his back once more and know that she was okay with him to keep moving forward, to which he did.

Finally, after what felt like hours of hiking up the many flights of stairs, Lelouch arrived at the top to see four people staring at him with different looks. Lelouch, having done his research before coming to Japan, knew exactly who each of these people were. To the far right was an elderly, bald man leaning on a cane, who Lelouch knew to be Taizō Kirihara, owner of Kirihara Industries, the wealthiest corporation in Japan and the country's lead Sakuradite-mining company, who was currently looking at Lelouch and his sister in a stern and calculating expression on his face. To the left of Kirihara stood a man who appeared to be in his mid-40s with gray hair, a muscular build, and who was looking at Lelouch and Nunnally with an even sterner look than Kirihara was: Genbu Kururugi, the prime minister of Japan as well as Lelouch and Nunnally's new caretaker for the next six months. Behind Genbu Kururugi was a little girl with blue hair who was wearing and a female kimono and was clutching onto Genbu's left leg whilst looking at the Britannian royalty with shy and timid eyes. Finally, to the far left stood a boy around Lelouch's age with brown hair and was wearing a male kimono while looking at the prince and princess with glaring eyes full of disdain and contempt, as if he was utterly disgusted at having a couple of foreigners here in his home.

'Well then,' thought Lelouch, 'it looks like I have my work cut out for me. I have a feeling that living with these people is going to be quite the challenge.'

* * *

**Sword of Akasha**

Standing atop of the only visible platform in the sword of Akasha, V.V. stood at the top of the steps looking out into the seemingly eternal sunset scenery in front of him with his younger twin brother standing right behind him. "I must say Charles," said V.V., "I am very surprised that you decided to send your children off to Japan, and that you would assign the task of conquering said nation to Lelouch. While I admit the boy his extremely gifted for his age, terrifyingly so I might add, he is still just a child and could screw up the conquest." "While I admit that my son still lacks a lot of experience in terms of military conquest," Charles responded, "as you said, he is extremely gifted for his age and has proven to be among the smartest and most competent of my children. Also, if any child of capable of conquering a nation, its Lelouch." "And if your son and daughter are killed in Japan by extremists or Japanese xenophobes before Lelouch has the chance to conquer Japan?" Seeing that his brother was testing him, Charles steered his expression before he forced himself to do what he swore to never do: lie to his brother. "I have full faith that Lelouch will survive during his time in Japan," started Charles, "however, should he and his sister end up dead, while it would be sad to lose such a great asset, we will simply have to continue on with the plan without him, and wait to see him again when the Ragnarök Connection is completed." To this, V.V. smiled, "Very well then, little brother." 'Excellent,' V.V. thought, 'with that woman out of the way Charles full attention is back on the plan. Now nothing will ever drive a wedge between me and Charles again.'

* * *

**A/N: Finally, I'm back at it again. Sorry for the wait everybody, expect the next chapter very soon.**


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